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THE    STANDARD    SERIES.  ^  ^  "^ '■ 


A     CRITICAL     AND     EXEGETICAL 


COMMENTARY 


ON 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS, 


WITH  A 


NEW    TRANSLATION. 


c/^ 


BY 

JAMES  G-f  MURPHY,  D.D.  T.C.D., 

PROFESSOR    OF    HEBREW,    BELFAST. 


WITH    PREFACE    TO    THE   AMERICAN    EDITION    B7 

JOHN    HALL    D.D. 

JUI      9    1881 

NEW   YOEK:  v  ;;^fwa5h^^ 

I.   K.   FUNK  &  CO.,   Publishers, 
10  AND  12  Dey  Street. 

1881. 


'7r 


Copyright,  1881, 
By  I.  K.  FUNK  &  CO. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


The  Rev.  Db.  Muephy  has,  by  long,  faithful,  and  efeective  discharge  of  his  duties 
as  an  instructor,  secured  the  confidence  of  the  British  public.  A  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  and  a  useful  and  edifying  preacher,  he  became  known  to  a  generation,  now 
in  middle  life,  as  an  efEective  teacher  in  the  Royal  Academical  I^titution,  Belfast, 
Ireland,  from  which  for  many  years  went  forth  the  educated  men  who  have,  like  Lord 
Cairns  in  England,  and  many  in  America,  India,  and  Australia,  rendered  distinguished 
public  service  in  all  the  professions. 

Nearly  forty  years  ago  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland 
decided  on  the  establishment  of  a  theological  college,  substantially  the  same  in  plan 
and  relations  with  Princeton  and  Yale  seminaries—  in  close  sympathy  with  adjoining 
colleges,  and  at  the  same  time  under  the  control  of  the  Church.  To  the  chair  of  Hebrew 
Dr.  Murphy  was  appointed.  His  career  has  been  uniform,  useful  in  a  high  degree,  and 
eminently  influential  in  promoting  the  critical  and  exegetical  study  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. He  has  reached  the  period  of  life  when  most  men  are  supposed  to  be  entitled 
to  honorable  rest  ;  but  his  energies  have  suffered  no  abatement,  and  they  who  see  him 
among  his  students,  or  taking  his  part  in  the  benevolent  work  of  the  great  centre  with 
which  he  has  been  so  long  identified,  or  enjoying  summer  leisure  among  books  and 
scholars  in  London,  would  hardly  realize  that  he  has  been  a  foremost  and  most  labori- 
ous educator  for  half  a  century. 

Though  not  a  student  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Murphy,  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  be 
associated  with  him  in  many  objects  of  common  interest ;  and  if  the  issue  of  this  vol- 
ume should  carry  his  thoughts  into  new  circles  of  readers,  there  will  be  to  me  the 
great  pleasure  of  making  a  valued  friend  known  where,  until  later,  his  influence  would 
not  have  been  appreciated. 

The  plan  of  Dr.  Murphy  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  early  books  of  the  Bible  has 
been  his  own.  Brief  critical  notes  —  no  more  lengthened  than  a  careful  reader 
acquainted  with  Hebrew  requires -precede  an  original  translation  of  the  sections. 
Then  follow  the  explanations,  in  which,  without  nicely  marking  off  the  exegetical  or 
the  critical  from  the  theological,  or  even  the  devotional,  the  effort  is  made  to  reflect  to 
an  ordinary  reader  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.  The  results  of  wide  reading,  of  careful 
and  most  conscientious  study,  and  of  long-continued  application  of  revealed  truth  to 
the  conscience  and  the  life  of  men,  are  presented  in  a  style  which  not  unfitly  represents 
the  simplicity,  modesty,  and  clear  directness  of  the  author. 

That  this  estimate  of  Dr.  Murphy  as  a  commentator  is  not  formed  through  the  par- 
tiality of  a  friend  will  appear  from  the  fact  that  when  his  Commentary  on  Genesis 
appeared,  Dr.  Thompson  of  New  York  pronounced  it  "  the  most  thorough,  satisfactory 
and  exhaustive  Commentary  upon  the  book  of  Genesis  that  has  yet  been  written  in  the 
English  language." 


4  PREFACE   TO    THE    AMERICANS    EDITION. 

The  reasons  which,  to  say  the  least,  justify  the  reissue  of  Dr.  Murphy's  "  Exodus"  may 
be  briefly  stated.  In  the  first  place,  the  second  half  of  the  present  year  is  devoted  to 
the  study  of  this  book  in  the  Sunday-schools  using  the  International  system.  The 
great  majority  of  the  Sunday-school  teachers  of  America  adopt  this  arrangement,  and 
it  is  known  that  the  best  of  them  eagerly  avail  themselves  of  the  most  useful  helps  they 
can  find.  To  aid  them  in  a  work  so  full  of  blessing  to  the  people  of  the  land,  and  so 
often  done  by  them  in  the  face  of  difficulties  and  under  the  pressure  of  many  other 
imperative  engagements,  is  itself  motive  enough  for  adding  to  the  list  of  books  of  in- 
terpretation. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  this  work  is  especially  adapted  to  their  needs.  It  does  not 
occupy  space  and  time  with  the  processes  of  critical  inquiry,  but  lucidly  states  re- 
sults. It  does  not  bewilder  with  long  and  formal  catalogues  of  diverse  and  contradic- 
tory interpretations,  but  presents  that  which  in  the  writer's  judgment  is  adequately 
sustained.  Its  exm)sitions  are  intelligible  to  ordinary  English  readers,  while  its  learn- 
ing is  sufficiently  apparent  to  inspire  the  confidence  of  ministers  and  others  accus- 
tomed to  examine  and  compare  the  various  forms  of  exegetical  apparatus. 

It  is,  it  may  be  further  stated,  a  recommendation  of  this  work  that  it  gives  a  re- 
vision of  our  translation.  In  1863  Dr.  Murphy  published  a  new  rendering  of  Genesis, 
when  the  whole  idea  of  revision  was  less  familiar  to  the  public  than  it  has  since  be- 
come ;  and  while  it  naturally  aroused  criticism  at  the  time,  it  is  no  mean  tribute  to  the 
worth  of  the  work  that  it  has  grown  in  public  favor.  The  late  revision  of  the  New 
Testament  (whatever  may  be  thought  of  its  merits),  and  the  fact  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  undergoing  a  corresponding  process,  tend  to  give  interest  to  this  earlier  and 
reverent  attempt  to  improve  our  translation. 

And,  finally,  the  fact  that  our  author  has  never  been  a  mere  critic,  or  even  a  pro- 
fessor exclusively  devoted  to  the  duties  of  a  chair,  but  that  he  is  actively  interested  in 
all  Christian  work,  and  a  very  frequent  preacher  of  the  Everlasting  Gospel,  secures — 
what  one  so  often  misses  with  regret  in  otherwise  valuable  works,  namely — the  prac- 
tical uses  and  applications  for  spiritual  ends  of  the  truths  elucidated.  This  con- 
sideration alone  gives  the  work  a  peculiar  fitness  for  the  table  of  the  Sabbath-school 
teacher,  who  is  intent  not  only  on  showing  ichat  God  has  said,  but  what  use  we  are  to 
make  of  the  statements  now  that  we  understand  them. 

But  it  would  be  to  present  a  partial  view  of  this  work  if  we  confined  attention  to  its 
adaptation  to  the  requirements  of  the  Sabbath-school  teacher.  Dr.  Murphy  is  conver- 
sant with  the  best  literature  on  the  Old  Testament.  He  is  keenly  alive  to  the  ardor 
and  apparent  force  of  the  assaults  on  the  older  books  of  inspiration,  both  from  the 
side  of  a  narrow  criticism  and  a  broad  science.  He  has  never  allowed  these  to  be  out 
of  his  view  in  his  work  ;  and  in  many  a  passage,  not  formally  controversial,  there  is 
the  sufficient  rejoinder  to  the  arbitrary  writer  who  would  parcel  out  the  book  among 
various  authors,  or  to  the  self-complacent  scientist,  who  cannot  separate  in  his  mind 
between  the  medium  of  current  and  familiar  language— the  only  language  the  recipi- 
ents of  revelation  could  understand— and  the  new  and  unfamiliar  truth  which  consti- 
tutes the  revelation,  and  patiently  does  its  work  among  a  hundred  imperfect  or 
perverted  views  of  it,  in  renewing  and  sanctifying  men  and  lifting  up  the  whole  re- 
ligious and  social  structure. 

With  this  estimate  of  the  work,  it  is  sent  forth  in  American  dress  and  at  a  price  bring, 
ing  it  within  the  reach  of  multitudes  of  Christian  workers  not  approached  hitherto  by 
such  aids,  with  some  measure  of  the  prayerful  spirit  in  which,  I  am  sure,  from  my 


AUTHOR  S    PEEFACE.  0 

knowledge  of  the  author,  the  undertaking  was  carried  through  by  him.  Dr.  Murphy's 
bearing  always  suggests  to  those  who  know  him  the  qualities  of  Paul's  fellow- worker 
— "a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith."  May  the  sequel  to  this  lofty 
description  of  excellence  be  here  also  realized  in  a  good  degree,  through  the  book — 
"  much  people  was  added  unto  the  Lord."  J,  HALL. 

Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York, 
June,  1881. 


AUTHOK'S    PREFACE 


If  the  one  God  make  a  world  and  write  a  book,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  nature  and 
Scripture  will  agree.  But  their  interpreters  may  differ.  It  is  notorious  that  there  has 
been  a  philosophy  that  was  only  vain  deceit — a  science  falsely  so  called.  This  was 
simply  a  false  interpretation  of  nature.  It  could  not  be  presumed  that  such  would 
agree  with  the  Bible.  It  is  equally  well  known  that  false  principles  of  interpretation 
have  been  ax3plied  to  the  Scripture,  the  results  of  which  have  also  been  at  variance 
with  nature.  Admitting,  however,  the  word  and  the  work  to  come  both  from  God,  men, 
v/ith  the  narrow  and  partially  erroneous  philosophy  of  their  day,  have  endeavored  to 
harmonize  them.  In  doing  so  they  have  in  some  instances  imposed  a  sense  upon 
Scripture  which  has  eventually  turned  out  to  be  incongruous  with  the  conclusions  of 
a  wider  and  more  exact  philosophy.  But  while  the  former  results  of  speculative  and 
scientific  inquiry  have  been  modified  or  reversed,  it  has  been  generally  taken  for 
granted  that  the  old  meanings  attached  to  those  portions  of  Scripture  that  touch  upon 
physical  or  metaphysical  phenomena  remain  true  and  incontrovertible. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  these  meanings  flowed  from  minds  otherwise 
well  cultivated,  but  at  the  same  time  imbued  with  the  errors  of  their  day  on  physical 
and  other  questions.  Their  mistaken  preconceptions  insensibly  guided  their  inter- 
pretation ;  and  hence  they  found  in  Scripture,  and  fixed  upon  it,  the  prejudices  of  a 
dogmatic  science.  And  there  are  actually  men  of  critical  and  cultivated  minds,  open  to 
the  advancing  and  astonishing  disclosures  of  modern  science,  who  reject  with  im- 
patience, and  x)ronounce  to  be  ingenious  trifling,  any  attempt  at  an  interpretation  of 
Scripture  free  from  the  prejudices  of  the  past  and  in  harmony  with  the  science  of  the 
present.  They  assume  that  the  interpreter  has  already  done  all  justice  to  these  parts 
of  Scripture,  and  regard  it  as  a  settled  point  that  this  venerable  record  of  the  past  is, 
and  must  have  been,  out  of  harmony  with  the  present  state  of  science. 

If  the  Scripture  was  a  book  of  merely  human  origin  we  might  acquiesce  in  this  con- 
clusion. In  that  case,  being  composed,  most  of  it  long  before  the  Christian  era,  and 
all  of  it  long  before  the  era  of  physical  science,  it  must  have  partaken  of  the  errors  of 
its  age.  And  the  wonder  would  be,  not  that  it  contains  the  few  errors  on  physical 
questions  which  some  interpreters  find  in  it,  but  that  it  does  not  contain  a  multitude 
of  others  common  to  the  ages  in  which  it  was  produced.     The  Mosaic  cosmogony,  his- 


6  author's  preface. 

tory,  and  philology,  even  according  to  the  common  interpretation,  solve  questions, 
which  without  their  aid  specidation  and  science  have  attempted  in  vain.  It. need 
scarcely  be  added  that  the  theology  and  ethics  of  the  Pentateuch,  not  to  speak  of  the 
New  Testament,  far  transcend  all  the  attainments  of  unassisted  human  reason.  The 
appearance  of  such  a  volume  in  such  an  age  is  simply  unaccountable  on  the  hypothe- 
sis of  its  human  origin. 

The  Scripture,  however  claiming  and  proving  itself  in  so  many  ways  to  be  of  divine 
origin  and  authority,  is  clearly  as  liable  to  be  misinterpreted  as  nature.  It  is  posi- 
tively more  so.  Nature  comes  directly  from  the  hand  of  God,  and  shows  no  traces  of 
a  human  hand,  except  what  havoc  sin  has  wrought  in  man.  Yet  it  has  been  long  and 
grievously  misapprehended  by  the  haste  or  pride  of  its  interpreters.  But  Scripture 
comes  from  God  through  the  minds  and  utterances  of  men.  Hence  it  expresses  the 
revelations  of  God  in  the  phraseology  of  untutored  or  misinformed  man.  It  presents, 
therefore,  an  incidental  element  of  relative  imperfection  in  the  mode  of  expression. 
How  much  more,  then,  is  it  liable  to  be  misunderstood  by  an  interpreter,  who  is  him- 
self led  astray  by  the  errors  of  his  own  or  past  times  ? 

A  free  and  fair  thinker  will  feel  that  a  divine  communication,  if  such  may  be,  must 
achieve  the  difficult,  and  to  man  impossible,  task  of  conveying  a  system  of  truth  in 
the  imperfect  vehicle  of  human  language,  without  coming  into  real  conflict  with  the 
facts  of  nature.  Now  it  is  plain  that  a  communication  so  expressed,  though  it  be  in 
fundamental  harmony  with  nature,  may  appear  not  to  be  so  from  casual  phrases, 
which  convey  a  fact,  indeed,  plainly  enough,  but  in  terms  which  involve  an  old  or 
popular  misconception  regarding  it.  Thus  when  we  say,  "the  sun  sets,"  the  event 
intended  is  adequately  expressed,  and  perfectly  understood,  though  the  terms  fail  to 
give  a  strictly  accurate  account  of  what  actually  takes  place.  And  only  when  we  have 
succeeded  in  disentangling  the  error  unavoidably  belonging  to  the  medium  of  com- 
munication are  we  at  liberty  to  regard  the  meaning  remaining  in  the  words  as  the 
statement  intended  by  the  sacred  record.  Hence,  in  receiving  a  divine  revelation 
couched  in  human  words,  it  is  only  fair  that  we  discount  any  error  that  may  incident- 
ally lurk  in  the  ordinary  phraseology  of  the  time. 

This  law  for  the  exposition  of  a  divine  record,  though  evident  in  itself,  and 
demanded  by  equity,  has  yet  had  to  force  its  way  in  all  ages  to  acceptance  and  author- 
ity. When  Galileo,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  proclaimed  that  the  earth  had  a 
diurnal  motion  on  its  axis,  and  an  annual  motion  round  the  sun,  he  was  condemned 
for  teaching  what  was  contradictory  to  the  assertions  of  the  Bible.  His  judges  were 
not  aware,  or  did  not  admit,  of  the  fair  and  obvioas  principle  of  interpretation  which 
has  now  received  a  partial  recognition.  No  one  now  maintains  that  the  Scriptures 
assert  that  the  earth  stands  still,  while  the  sun  performs  a  diurnal  revolution  in 
twenty-four  hours.  Yet  there  are  men  in  this  nineteenth  century  who  regard  with 
hesitation,  if  they  do  not  turn  away  with  undisguised  distrust,  from  any  attempt  to 
apply  this  or  any  other  equally  fair  rule  of  hermeneutics  to  those  portions  of  the  Bible 
which  are  presumed  to  be  repugnant  to  the  conclusions  of  physical  science.  "We 
could  understand  this,  if  its  divine  authority  were  to  be  abandoned.  But  with  its 
claim  to  be  given  by  inspiration  of  God  before  us,  we  submit  that  it  is  as  weU  entitled 
to  an  amended  interpretation  as  nature  itself.  Natural  science  receives  a  constant 
readjustment  as  new  facts  disclose  themselves  to  the  enlightened  observer.  Biblical 
science  has  a  still  more  pressing  claim  to  a  similar  reconstruction,  inasmuch  as  it  has 
long  suffered  from  a  defective  mode  of  elucidation,  not  based  on  a  fair  estimate  of 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE.  7 

itself,  but  biassed  by  a  false  view  of  nature.  The  interpreter  of  nature  amends  his 
method  under  the  force  of  accumulated  experience.  Let  the  interpreter  of  Scripture 
enjoy  the  same  right.  Especially  let  him  be  released  from  the  bondage  which  the 
vain  philosophy  of  a  bygone  age  has  imposed  upon  him.  Liberated  from  the  preju- 
dices of  the  past,  and  standing  in  the  light  of  present  science,  let  him  at  least  make 
the  attempt  to  interpret  Scripture  as  the  word  of  God,  that  must  be  in  real  harmony 
with  the  works  of  God.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  abandon  the  theory  of  divine  inspi- 
ration when  right  principles  of  hermeneutics,  freely  and  fairly  applied,  fail  to  bring 
out  a  meaning  that  will  be  in  harmony  with  the  indubitable  facts  of  nature. 

The  same  line  of  reasoning  applies  to  moral  and  metaphysical  questions  as  to 
physical.  Let  us  fully  apprehend  the  foundations  of  our  mental  philosophy  before  we 
make  it  the  standard  by  which  we  are  to  test  the  morals  of  Scripture.  And  let  us  be 
scrupulously  faithful  in  ascertaining  what  is  the  precise  meaning  of  Scripture,  before 
we  pronounce  it  to  be  at  variance  with  any  first  principle  of  ethical  or  metaphysical 
truth. 

The  interpretation  of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  offered  by  the  present  writer  to  the 
public  in  1863,  was  the  issue  of  an  attempt  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  that  venerable 
portion  of  holy  writ  according  to  exegetical  rules,  which  reviewers  have  admitted  to 
be  just,  and  one  has  even  pronounced  it  to  be  a  series  of  truisms.  Some  results  of 
this  interpretation  were,  if  not  new,  yet  sufiiciently  remarkable.  The  record  of  the 
primeval  creation  was  found  to  be  contained  in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis.  The  state 
of  at  least  a  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  antecedent  to  the  six  days  of  creative 
effort  is  described  in  the  second  verse.  The  creation  narrated  in  the  remainder  of 
the  first  chapter  is  partial  in  regard  both  to  time  and  place,  being  accomplished  in  six 
literal  days,  and  confined  in  range  to  that  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which  was 
declared  in  the  second  verse  to  be  waste,  void,  and  dark.  The  deluge  is  limited  to  a 
stiU  narrower  area,  extending  only  to  the  region  inhabited  by  man.  The  ark  was 
designed  and  constructed  to  preserve  only  such  animals  of  a  domestic  and  harmless 
kind  as  might  have  become  extinct,  because  they  were  limited  in  range.  It  did  not, 
therefore,  receive  animals  residing  in  more  distant  regions,  or  belonging  to  an  earlier 
creation.  The  six  days'  creation,  moreover,  furnishes  an  instance  of  a  local  centre  of 
creation,  and  consequently  favors  the  presumption  of  other  local  and  previous  centres 
of  creation  for  different  orders  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  These,  and  other  similar 
results,  are  elicited  from  the  text,  it  is  submitted,  by  a  natural  and  unstrained  inter- 
pretation. 

It  may  be  said  that  in  both  these  cases  the  terms  of  the  descriptions  are  universal, 
and  the  interpretation  has  been  uniformly  so.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  there 
was  a  universality  at  first  both  in  regard  to  man  and  the  objects  known  to  him.  And 
hence  the  terms  of  the  text  agree  with  the  original  compass  of  human  experience. 
But  when  the  terms  land,  animal,  etc.,  come  to  have  an  extent  of  meaning  beyond 
what  was  known  or  contemplated  in  primeval  times,  it  is  manifest  that  an  error  may 
be  insensibly  imported  into  the  sense  ;  because  what  applied  to  these  terms  in  their 
original  extension  may  not  be  true  of  the  new  parts  of  their  extension.  And  this  error 
will  progressively  increase  in  amount  until  the  land  becomes  the  terraqueous  globe, 
and  the  animals  comprise  all  the  species  existing  thereupon. 

The  present  volume  on  Exodus  is  a  second  contribution  to  the  exposition  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  to  the  practical  demonstration  that  a  just  interpretation  of  the  volume 
of  inspiration  will  obviate  supposed  difficulties,  v/hich  have  arisen  mainly  from  mis- 


8  author's  preface. 

apprehension,  and  bring  out  more  strikingly  and  nnif  ormly  its  essential  harmony  with 
science,  reason,  and  history.  It  removes,  in  the  author's  apprehension,  any  impossi- 
bilities that  may  have  seemed  to  lie  in  the  natural  events  that  are  recorded  in  the 
narrative.  This  is  a  matter  of  the  first  importance,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  credi- 
bility of  the  history,  but  in  reference  to  the  origin  and  structure  of  the  whole  Penta- 
teuch. For  while  the  historical  validity  of  the  document  stands,  the  free  handling, 
by  which  the  text  is  parcelled  out  and  distributed  among  a  succession  of  authors,  the 
earliest  of  whom  lived  centuries  after  the  events  occurred,  loses  the  basis  on  which 
alone  it  can  be  securely  erected  ;  and  the  evidence  for  its  Mosaic  authorship  rests 
upon  a  foundation  which  cannot  be  moved. 

The  resources  for  the  vindication  of  the  historical  veracity  of  the  narrative  in  Exo- 
dus are  far  from  being  exhausted.  The  elucidation  of  Egyptian  history  by  the  labors 
of  Lepsius,  Eawlinson,  Hincks,  Talbot,  and  others  ;  the  restoration  of  its  chronologj^ 
to  which  Dr.  Hincks  has  contributed  some  most  interesting  and  valuable  papers  ;  the 
investigation  of  the  historical  and  anthropological  traces  which  remain  of  the  migra- 
tions or  ancient  tribes  ;  and  the  conclusions  of  a  thoroughly  discussed  theory  of 
national  and  social  economy,  •will  yet  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  exodus  of  Israel  and 
the  events  consequent  upon  it.  The  profounder  investigations  of  ethical  and  political 
questions,  and  the  prosecution  of  the  abstruse  but  important  and  practical  inquiry 
into  the  mode  of  training  families  and  nations  in  the  conception,  reception,  and  per- 
petuation of  true  ideas,  beliefs,  and  cognitions  respecting  God,  and  their  practical 
relation  to  him,  will  also  open  the  way  for  a  juster  comprehension  of  the  meaning  of 
Exodus,  as  well  as  the  other  books  of  the  Pentateuch, 

Such,  indeed,  is  the  apologetic  view  of  the  bearing  of  those  studies  on  the  book. 
But  the  real  character  of  the  books  of  Moses,  as  the  primeval  portion  of  the  word  of 
God,  precisely  reverses  this  bearing.  The  Pentateuch  is  the  light  of  revelation  shed- 
ding its  salubrious  beams  on  those  questionings  of  the  spirit  of  man,  on  those  themes 
which  have  been  darkened  and  confused  by  the  entrance  of  sin.  And  when  men  come 
to  acknowledge  the  divine  authority,  and  penetrate  into  the  true  meaning  of  this 
second  book  of  it,  this  book  of  moral  resolvings  and  teachings  and  doings,  they  will 
find  in  it  a  safe  guide  to  new  and  sound  views  of  ethical,  political,  and  educational 
science.  It  would  not  be  easy  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  that  book  which 
recounts  the  separation  of  the  chosen  people  of  God  from  the  world,  the  giving  of  the 
moral  law,  and  the  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle,  which  symbolizes  the  way  of  recon- 
ciliation and  communion  with  God. 

The  method  of  exposition  ]3ursued  in  this  volume,  as  well  as  in  that  in  Genesis,  is 
the  following  :  First,  the  general  arrangement  and  division  of  topics  in  the  book  are 
brought  under  notice.  Next,  at  the  head  of  each  section,  a  few  prominent  words  are 
quoted  and  briefly  expounded,  for  the  sake  of  readers  acquainted  with  Hebrew,  who 
are  supposed  to  peruse  the  section  in  the  original.  Then  follows  a  translation  of  the 
section,  which  is  designed  to  be  a  mere  revision  of  the  Authorized  Version.  This  the 
reader  will  compare  with  the  original,  or  with  the  corresponding  portion  of  his  English 
Bible.  The  commentary  then  appended  is  designed  to  explain  the  momentous  import 
of  the  historical  facts  recorded,  to  mark  their  bearing  on  the  highest  interests  of  man, 
and  to  unfold  the  great  principles  of  ethical  and  theological  truth  which  are  stated  for 
his  guidance  and  comfort.  These  are  obviously  the  weightiest  questions  that  can 
engage  the  attention  of  man.  Certain  and  definite  answers  on  these  all-important 
topics  are  to  be  found  in  the  books  of  revelation,  and  in  no  other  quarter.     We  have, 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE.  9 

therefore,  the  strongest  motives  to  examine  the  Scriptures,  to  make  ourselves 
acquainted  with  their  profoundly  interesting  contents,  and  to  avail  ourselves  of  the 
information  they  convey  to  escape  the  penal  consequences  of  sin  and  enter  upon  the 
path  of  everlasting  life. 

In  pursuing  such  investigations  as  these,  the  writer  has  not  occupied  much  space 
with  those  questions  of  literary  criticism  which  are  now  ably  discussed  in  introduc- 
tions to  the  Bible  and  in  biblical  dictionaries.  He  has  refrained  in  general  from 
bewildering  the  reader  with  the  enumeration  of  a  series  of  incongruous  opinions,  and 
has  been  sparing  in  the  quotation  of  authorities  for  every  particular  statement  made. 
In  this  way  he  has  endeavored  to  economize  space  for  a  more  full  discussion,  though 
in  as  concise  a  form  as  possible,  of  all  that  bears  upon  the  ways  of  God  with  man. 
The  difficulties  that  are  started  in  the  publications  of  the  day  have  received  a  large 
share  of  attention  ;  and  whatever  seemed  to  be  the  best  mode  of  obviating  their  force 
has  been  uniformly  indicated  in  an  incidental  way.  And,  at  the  risk  of  some  appear- 
ance of  dogmatism,  it  has  been  made  a  point  in  all  important  cases  if  possible  to 
arrive  at  and  to  offer  to  the  reader  a  decided  opinion. 

The  author  has  made  some  contributions  toward  a  formal  and  direct  reply  to 
recent  objections  to  the  Pentateuch.  But  he  is  content  for  the  present  with  offering 
to  the  reader  a  second  instalment  of  the  positive  argument  for  the  authority  and  his- 
torical validity  of  that  venerable  document  in  this  attempt  at  the  exegetical  elucida- 
tion of  the  book  of  Exodus.  The  right  understanding  of  the  Book  of  God  is  aU  the 
vindication  it  needs  with  the  earnest  reader. 


INTRODUCTION 


IX.  EXODUS.* 


The  Book  of  Exodus  is  tlie  record  of  a  new  development  in  the  ways  of  God  with 
man.  This  is  the  departure  of  the  chosen  people  out  of  Egypt.  They  went  into  that 
land  a  family  ;  they  came  out  a  people.  They  entered  as  the  honored  and  indepen- 
dent relatives  of  the  Prime  Minister  of  State  ;  they  departed  as  the  fugitive  serfs  of  a 
despotic  and  oppressive  government.  They  took  up  their  abode  in  Goshen  at  a  time 
when  the  nations  stiU  retained  some  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  some  remembrance 
of  his  covenant  with  man,  and  some  sense  of  his  claim  upon  their  reverence  ;  they 
marched  forth  from  the  land  of  their  sojourning  at  an  epoch  when  the  iniquity  of  the 
Amorites  was  full,  when,  whatever  might  be  the  case  with  a  rare  individual  or  tribe, 
the  nations  had  corrupted  the  knowledge  of  God,  disregarded  his  covenant,  and  wan- 
dered into  the  devious  paths  of  will-worship.  Apostasy  from  the  truth  on  the  loftiest 
themes  of  history  had  become  the  characteristic  of  the  nations,  when  God  brought 
forth  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt  into  the  sphere  of  conspicuous  observation  the 
nation  whom  he  foreknew,  to  be  the  keepers  of  his  sacred  oracles  and  ordinances,  the 
accepted  parties  to  his  holy  and  gracious  covenant,  and  the  maintainers  and  eventual 
disseminators  of  his  pure  and  spiritual  worship  on  earth.  This  great  act  is  the  topic 
of  the  Book  of  Exodus. 

From  this  glance  at  its  contents,  it  is  manifest  that  it  is  not  the  full  counterpart  of 
Genesis.  That  venerable  document  is  matched  in  grandeur  of  scope  not  even  by  the 
rest  of  the  Pentateuch,  but  only  by  the  remainder  of  the  volume  of  revelation.  It 
opens  with  a  creation,  of  which  man  forms  the  prominent  object  ;  the  Old  Testament 
closes  with  the  anticipation  of  a  new  creation  (Isa.  65  :  17),  in  which  also  man  will 
hold  the  conspicuous  place  ;  and  the  New  Testament  records  the  atoning  obedience 
of  Christ  and  the  quickening  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  guarantee  and  earnest 
of  that  new  creation,  the  consummation  of  which  it  again  announces  to  the  church 
(2  Pet.  3  :  13).  Genesis  also  touches  upon  the  history  of  the  whole  race  of  man,  and 
even  after  the  caU  of  Abraham  traces  the  peaceful  intercourse  subsisting  between  the 
chosen  family  and  the  rest  of  mankind.  Exodus  marks  the  full-grown  antagonism 
between  the  chosen  nation  and  the  heathen  world,  records  the  violent  separation 
between  the  two,  and  then  confines  itself  mainly  to  the  history  of  the  party  that 
remained  in  communion  with  God.  Its  distinguishing  event,  the  exodus,  is  accord- 
ingly the  prototj^e  of  that  great  event  in  the  experience  of  the  individual  in  which 
he  comes  out  from  the  bondage  of  the  flesh  into  the  freedom  of  the  Spirit,  as  weU  ag 

*  In  a  valuable  "Introduction"  to  Genesis,  our  author  had  numbered  his  analysis  of  that  book 
VIII.  Desiring,  no  doubt,  to  preserve  the  sequence  of  his  work,  this  section  is  numbered  IX.  We 
retain  the  division,  as  some  of  our  readers  may  possess  the  other  works  of  Dr.  Murphy.— J.  H. 


12  INTRODUCTIOK. 

of  those  great  occasions  in  the  history  of  the  church  in  which  it  reasserts  its  spiritual 
life  and  liberty,  and  passes  with  all  the  determination  of  new-born  principle  from 
the  wilful  service  of  sin  into  the  conscientious  obedience  of  holiness.  This  coming 
out  is  a  process  continually  going  on  during  the  history  of  the  church  until  all  have 
come  out,  and  the  doomed  world  is  given  over  to  everlasting  destruction. 

It  is  the  manner  of  Scripture  to  signalize  the  primary  event  in  any  given  series  as  a 
lesson  and  example  to  all  future  generations.  In  Genesis  are  recorded  all  kinds  of 
origins  or  births,  and  among  others,  the  birth  of  Isaac,  the  seed  of  promise.  In 
Exodus  is  recounted  the  deliberate  action  of  the  new-born,  in  coming  out  of  the  land 
of  bondage.  The  wilderness  between  this  land  and  the  land  of  promise,  the  troubles, 
temptations,  and  failings  of  such  a  state  of  life,  the  giving  of  the  law  to  a  new-born 
and  emancipated  people,  the  setting  up  of  the  ordinances  of  a  holy  religion,  are  all 
typical  events,  prefiguring  others  of  a  like  nature,  but  of  still  grander  and  grander 
import.  They  do  not  stand  alone  on  memory's  tablet,  but  embody  a  principle  of 
constant  value,  which  comes  out  in  a  series  of  analogous  events  in  the  course  of  hu- 
man affairs.  They  are  standing  monuments  in  the  great  field  of  the  past,  written  in 
legible  characters  on  the  page  of  history  for  the  instruction  of  coming  days.  They 
lodge  in  the  mind  of  man  the  principles  which  they  exemplify,  never  afterward  to  be 
dislodged  from  the  hereditary  wisdom  of  the  race.  History  has  been  said  to  be  X3hi- 
losophy  teaching  by  examples,  and  this  is  nowhere  so  true  as  in  that  history  which 
describes  events  from  a  heavenly  point  of  view,  selects  them  with  a  divine  intuition 
of  their  exemplary  character,  and  places  them  on  record  for  the  express  purpose  of 
instilling  into  men's  hearts  the  great  principles  of  sacred  truth. 

The  scope  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  however,  is  not  to  be  limited  to  the  mere  fortunes 
of  the  chosen  people.  Even  if  it  stood  alone,  its  communications  could  not  be  con- 
fined to  so  narrow  an  area.  But  preceded  by  the  Book  of  Generis,  and  forming  a  con- 
tinuation of  that  work,  it  has  an  essential  and  important  bearing  on  the  destinies  of 
the  whole  race  of  man.  It  details  a  certain  stage  of  that  momentous  process,  by  which 
the  covenant  of  God  v/ith  man  is  to  be  upheld,  and  its  benefits  secured  for  a  growing 
proportion  of  our  fallen  race,  until  at  length  the  main  body,  at  least,  of  all  kindreds 
and  tongues  returns  to  God.  This  imparts  a  new  dignity  to  the  record  now  before  us, 
and  imposes  a  higher  significance  on  the  characteristic  events  which  it  celebrates. 
The  chosen  nation  are  interesting  no  longer  merely  on  account  of  themselves  as  an 
end  contemplated  by  the  Great  Designer,  but  on  account  of  their  paramount  impor- 
tance as  a  means  of  incalculable  blessing  to  the  whole  family  of  man.  The  oracles  of 
God  flow  forth  in  gradual  stream  from  the  mouths  of  their  prophets.  The  system  of 
symbolic  ordinances  shadowing  forth  the  way  of  salvation  is  set  up  and  administered 
among  them.  The  Messiah,  who  v/as  revealed  in  these  oracles  and  foreshadowed 
by  these  ordinances,  is  to  be  born  of  this  people  to  make  a  propitiation  not  only  for 
their  sins,  but  for  those  of  the  whole  world,  fulfil  the  requirements  of  the  ancient 
covenant  on  behalf  of  man,  and  so  to  receive  the  heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession.  In  the  exodus  of  this  peculiar  jieople 
out  of  Egypt,  therefore,  we  are  in  the  very  pathway  of  that  great  transaction  b}^  which 
he  v/ith  whom  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  j^ears,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day,  will 
eventually  bring  ail  the  nations  of  man  again  into  reconciliation  with  himself.  This 
is  the  sublimest  enterprise  in  which  the  interests  of  man  can  be  concerned. 

This  book  is  a  regular  and  orderly  piece  of  composition.  Hence  it  admits  of  easy 
analysis  into  its  component  parts.    The  exodus  itself  is  the  central  event  of  the  drama, 


IKTRODCJCTIOI^.  13 

and  is  embraced  in  six  chapters  (13-18.)  That  whicli  precedes  naturally  falls  into 
two  parts  :  the  first  of  which  recounts  the  bondage  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  with  the  rise  of 
the  leader  in  this  great  movement,  in  six  chapters  (1-6)  ;  the  second  narrates  the  ten 
plagues  or  momentous  strokes  of  judgment,  by  which  the  opposition  of  the  Egyptian 
monarch  is  overcome,  and  the  way  opened  for  the  exodus  of  the  liberated  people,  in 
other  six  chapters  (7-12).  The  portion  of  the  book  which  follows  the  main  act  is 
also  divided  between  two  important  topics,  the  lawgiving  and  the  tabernacle.  The 
former  occupies  six  chapters  more  (19-24),  and  the  latter  extends  over  the  remain- 
ing sixteen  ;  of  which  seven  (25-31)  contain  the  specifications  concerning  the 
tabernacle,  its  furniture,  and  officials  ;  three  (32-34)  relate  a  wild  outbreak  of 
will-worship  among  the  people  who  had  jast  escaped  from  bondage  ;  and  the  last  six, 
(35-40)  record  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  commencement  of  the 
divinely  instituted  national  worship. 

This  book  is  composed  in  the  customary  style  and  method  of  the  sacred  writer.  It 
forms  a  complete  whole,  and  closes  with  a  crowning  event.  The  writer  has  this  end  in 
view  throughout  the  work,  and  advances  to  it  with  unde\iating  tenacity  of  purpose. 
Hence  he  omits  those  collateral  topics,  which  are  not  essential  to  the  main  thread  of 
his  narrativ^e,  and  tend  to  disturb  the  unity  and  mar  the  effect  of  the  whole.  These 
he  will  take  up  hereafter  in  their  appropriate  connection. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  arrangement  of  the  book,  as  indicated  above  : 


r         I.  Israel  oppressed  in  Egypt,  1. 

Section  I.  J        II.  Moses  born  and  bred,  ii. 


Bondage  in  Egypt.      |  III.  Moses  called  and  commissioned,   iii.,  iv. 
[     IV.  Moses  enters  on  his  oflice,  v.,  vi. 

f       V.  The  first  three  plagues,  vii.,viii.  19. 

Section  II.  !      VI.  The  second  three  plagues,  viii.  20-ix.  12. 

The  Ten  Plagues.      1  VII.  The  third  three  plagues,  ix.  13-x, 

[  VIII.  The  tenth  plague.     Passover.       xi.,  xii. 

Section  III.  j      IX.  The  escape  of  Israel,  xiii.-xv. 

The  Exodus.  "j        X.  Journey  from  Elim  to  Sinai,         xvi.-xviii. 

Section  IV.  j       XI.  The  Moral  Law,  xix.,  xx. 

The  Lawgiving.        (  XII.  The  Civil  Law,  xxi.-xxiv. 

Section  V  (  XIII.  Plan  of  the  Tabernacle,  xxv.-xxxi. 

The  Tabernacle  1  ■^^^-  ^^^®  ^^^^  breach  of  the  Covenant,  xxxii.-xxxiv. 

(  XV.  The  Tabernacle  made  and  set  up,  xxxv.-xl. 


COMMENTARY. 


PART  III.- 

SECTIOISr  I.— THE  BONDAGE  IN  EGYPT. 

I.  ISRAEL   OPPRESSED   IN   EGYPT.— Ex.  1. 

11.  c^  tribute,  levy,  task,  work  done  by  a  serf  for  Ms  Lord.  Keil  understands 
by  it  the  serf  or  socager  himself.  But  Esther  10  : 1  is  against  this.  CDD 
Pithom,  UtiQi'd  in  Sept.,  is  identified  with  Udrov/LioS  in  Herod,  ii.  158  ;  or,  omitting 
the  Egyptian  article,  Qovfi  in  the  later  geographers.  Brugsch  derives  it  from  pa, 
abode,  and  Turn  or  Atum,  the  sun  after  setting.  COOyi  Raamses,  Ta/ueaar/  in  Sept. 
It  is  rendered  "  son  of  Ra,"  the  sun,  who  was  worshipped  at  On  or  Heliopolis. 

15.  niDIS^  Shiphrah,  brightness,  beauty.  r[]}^D  Pu-'ah  for  p^^^^'^  splendor  (Si- 
monis). 

16.  □"iJ2i^  potter'' s  wheel,  birth-stool.  This  word  occurs  only  twice  in  Scripture. 
In  Jer.  18  :  3  it  denotes  the  potter's  wheel.  In  the  present  passage  it  seems  to 
signify  the  receptacle  into  which  the  new-born  infant  comes  from  the  womb. 
Both  these  utensils  may  have  been  originally  of  stone  (]n{^^).     Gen,  28  :  11. 

21.  CTlZ  DH/  ttf^^"^l  ^^<^  made  them  houses,  gave  them  not  only  husbands,  but 
children,  who  constitute  families.  The  pronoun  CH  i^  masculine.  But  the 
plural  masculine  is  occasionally  applied  to  the  female.     (See  Gen.  31  :  9). 

22,  -^j^*!  a  river,  in  Memphitic  iaro,  in  Sahidic  iero,  a  term  generally  applied  to 
the  Nile. 

I.  1.  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  who  came  into  Mizraim  ;  every 
man  and  his  household  came  with  Jacob.  2.  Eeuben,  Simon,  Levi,  and  Judah,  3. 
Issakar,  Zebulun,  and  Benjamin,  4.  Dan  and  Naphtali,  Gad  and  Asher.  5.  And  all 
the  souls  that  came  out  of  the  thigh  of  Jacob  were  seventy  souls  :  and  Joseph  was 
already  in  Mizraim.  6.  And  Joseph  died,  and  all  his  brethren,  and  all  that  generation. 
7.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  were  fruitful,  and  increased  and  multiplied,  and  waxed  ex- 
ceedingly mighty  ;  and  the  land  was  filled  with  them.  ^  1. 

8.  Then  arose  a  new  king  over  Mizraim,  who  knew  not  Joseph.  9.  And  he  said  unto 
his  people,  Behold,  the  people  of  the  sons  of  Israel  are  more  and  mightier  than  we. 

Dr.  Murphy  divides  Genesis  into  two  great  portions  :  I.  the  Creation,  and  II.  the  development 
of  things  created  from  the  beginning  to  the  deaths  of  Jacob  and  Joseph.  Hence  he  numbers  Exodus 
Part  III.  in  a  continuous  narrative.— J.  H. 


16  ISRAEL   OPPRESSED   IK   EGYPT. 

10.  Come,  let  us  deal  wisely  with  them,  lest  they  multiply,  and  it  come  to  pass  that 
a  war  falleth  out,  and  they  also  join  with  those  that  hate  us,  and  fight  against  us,  and 
get  up  out  of  the  land.  11.  And  they  set  over  them  taskmasters  to  afflict  them  with 
their  burdens  :  and  they  built  treasure-cities  for  Pharoh,  Pithom  and  Eaamses.  12. 
And  as  they  afflicted  them,  so  they  multiplied  and  spread  :  and  they  were  vexed 
because  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  13.  And  Mizraim  made  the  sons  of  Israel  serve  with 
rigor.  14.  And  they  embittered  their  life  with  hard  service,  in  clay  and  in  brick,  and 
in  all  service  in  the  field  ;  with  all  their  service  which  they  laid  on  them  with  rigor, 

15.  And  the  king  of  Mizraim  said  to  the  Hebrew  midwives,  of  whom  the  name  of 
the  one  was  Shiphrah  and  the  other  Puali.  16.  And  he  said,  When  ye  deliver  the 
Hebrew  women  and  look  upon  the  stool,  if  it  be  a  son,  then  ye  shall  kill  him,  and  if 
it  be  a  daughter,  then  she  shall  live.  17.  And  the  midwives  feared  God,  and  did  not 
as  the  king  of  Mizraim  spake  unto  them,  but  saved  the  men-children  alive.  18.  And 
the  king  of  Mizraim  called  the  midv/ives,  and  said  unto  them.  Why  have  ye  done  this 
thing,  and  saved  the  men-children  alive  ?  19.  And  the  midwives  said  unto  Pharoh, 
Because  the  Hebrew  women  are  not  like  the  Mizrite  women  ;  for  they  are  lively,  and 
have  brought  forth  ere  the  midwife  comes  in  unto  them.  20.  And  God  dealt  well 
with  the  midwives  :  and  the  people  multiplied  and  waxed  very  mighty.  21.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  because  the  midwives  feared  God,  that  he  made  them  houses.  22.  And 
Pharoh  charged  all  his  people,  saying,  Every  son  that  is  born  ye  shall  cast  into  the 
river,  and  every  daughter  ye  shall  save  alive.  ^  2. 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  sacred  writer  to  note  the  great  moments  and  turning-points 
in  the  history  of  God's  dealings  with  man,  and  to  pass  lightly  over  the  current  of 
events  that  flow  naturally  from  the  tendency  thus  given.  The  entrance  into  Egypt 
was  one  of  those  leading  movements  ;  the  departure  from  it  is  another.  The  inter- 
vening period  of  two  hundred  and  ten  years  is  summed  up  in  the  chapter  before  us, 
if  we  except  certain  events  relative  to  Jacob  and  Joseph,  which  wind  up  the  settle- 
ment of  the  chosen  family  in  Egypt,  and  a  few  circumstances  concerning  Moses  which 
are  introductory  to  the  national  migration.  The  present  chapter  recounts  the  extraor- 
dinary increase  of  the  family  of  Israel,  and  the  ineffectual  measures  taken  by  the 
king  of  Egypt  to  check  their  growth. 

1-7.  The  increase  of  the  chosen  seed.  Here  the  historian,  after  the  manner  of 
Hebrew  composition,  goes  back  to  the  descent  of  Israel  into  Egypt  as  the  starting- 
point  of  the  new  train  of  events  about  to  be  related.  And  these  are  the  names.  The 
recapitulation  of  the  heads  of  houses  in  Jacob' s  family  prepares  the  way  for  the  vast 
augmentation  about  to  be  recorded.  Of  Israel.  This  word  is  here  well  chosen.  The 
significance  of  the  name,  and  the  occasion  of  its  application,  still  lived  in  the  memory 
of  the  patriarch's  posterity.  The  outward  privileges  of  the  prince  that  had  power  with 
God  and  with  man  descended  to  them,  and  the  inward  character  that  corresponded 
with  such  a  parentage  was  no  doubt  to  be  found  in  many  of  them.  And  now  that  the 
estrangement  of  the  nations  from  the  true  God  was  become  general  and  obvious,  it 
was  the  more  necessary  that  the  chosen  family  should  be  reminded  by  this  sacred 
name  of  the  high  destiny  to  which  they  were  called.  Every  man  and  his  house.  They 
were  already  distributed  into  twelve  houses,  when  they  went  down  into  Egypt.  The 
sons  of  Leah  are  placed  first,  Benjamin  son  of  Eachel  next,  and  afterward  the  four 
sons  of  the  handmaids.  Seventy  souls.  Jacob  himself  is  included  among  the  seventy 
souls,  the  natural  head  being  essential  to  the  unity  and  integrity  of  the  family.  The 
Sept.  here  has  seventy-five  (see  on  Gen.  46  :  27).  Joseph  is  now  mentioned  apart  from 
the  others,  because  he  had  been  in  the  country  before  them.  6.  And  all  that  generation. 
As  some  of  those  who  descended  with  Jacob  were  mere  infants,  more  than  half  of  the 
two  hundred  and  ten  years  would  have  elapsed  before  their  decease.     This  would 


EXODUS  I.  8-22.  17 

bring  us  within  twenty  years  of  tlie  birth  of  Moses.  7.  The  rapid  growth  of  Israel 
into  a  nation  is  the  fact  of  this  paragraph.  It  is  expressed,  as  usual  in  Hebrew,  by  a 
climax  of  verbs  :  were  fruitful  is  taken  from  the  vegetable  world,  in  which  the  increase 
varies  from  a  small  multiple  to  several  hundreds-fold  ;  increased  (spawned,  swarmed) 
is  borrowed  from  the  finny  tribes,  in  which  the  rate  of  increase  rises  to  many  myriads  ; 
multiplied  is  a  general  v^^ord  referring  to  number  ;  and  waxed  exceedingly  migldy  is  a 
similar  phrase  alluding  to  the  strength  which  numbers  confer,  composed  of  a  verb  and 
an  adverb  repeated,  and  therefore  well  adapted  to  complete  the  climax.  Then  follows 
the  result,  the  land  icas  filled  with  them.  It  is  quite  evident  that  this  statement  implies 
a  rate  of  increase  amazingly  higher  than  that  which  was  usual  in  those  days,  and  still 
higher  than  any  that  can  be  found  in  the  present  crowded  state  of  the  world.  The 
circumstances  were  favorable  for  such  an  increase.  They  had  scope  and  verge  in  a 
wide  and  thinly-peopled  country  ;  and  they  were  placed  in  the  best  of  the  land  (Gen. 
47  :  11).  These  advantages  alone,  however,  could  not  account  for  their  accelerated 
growth  ;  for  the  Egyptians  were  not  much  less  favored  in  these  respects.  But  the 
blessing  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  promise,  was  now  realized  to  them.  After  a  long 
delay  the  word  came  to  Israel,  the  third  patriarch  :  "  I  am  God  Almighty  ;  be  fruitful 
and  multiply  :  a  nation  and  a  congregation  of  nations  shall  be  of  thee,  and  kings  shall 
come  out  of  thy  loins"  (Gen.  35  :  11),  We  see  also  the  effect  of  the  migration  into 
EgjT)t.  In  Kenaan  the  inevitable  tendency  was  to  lose  all  family  distinction,  and 
merge  into  the  nations  of  that  country.  Only  in  a  border  land,  on  territory  specially 
ceded  to  them  by  a  people  who  had  a  national  antipathy  to  their  pursuits,  could  a 
select  nation  have  grown  up  without  coalescing  in  blood,  in  language,  and  in  institu- 
tions with  the  surrounding  tribes.  Hence  in  Goshen  the  chosen  family  grows  in  two 
hundred  and  ten  years  into  the  chosen  nation,  destined  to  witness  among  the  nations 
for  the  unity,  spirituality,  and  mercy  of  the  Creator  of  all. 

8-22.  The  unwarrantable  measures  taken  by  the  king  of  Egypt  to  check  the  growth 
of  the  people.  These  were  three  :  to  impose  slave  labor,  to  enjoin  the  midwives  to 
slay  the  male  children  as  soon  as  born,  and  to  command  his  people  to  throw  the  male 
infants  into  the  river.  A  new  king  over  Mizraim.  Joseph  was  thirty-nine  years  old 
when  his  kindred  settled  in  Egypt,  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  ten,  and  there- 
fore died  seventy-one  j^ears  after  that  settlement.  We  may  suppose  that  all  the  gen- 
eration that  came  down  into  Egj^pt  died  one  hundred  and  ten  years  after  the  same 
event.  In  the  mteiwal  between  this  and  the  birth  of  Moses  arose  this  "  new  king  over 
Mizraim."  The  chronology  of  the  early  period  of  Egyptian  history  has  not  yet  been 
definitely  settled.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  at  the  time  in  question  there  were  two 
or  more  contemporary  sovereigns  reigning  in  different  parts  of  what  we  now  call 
Egj^t  :  one  at  Thebes,  the  capital  of  Pathros,  the  land  of  thePathrusim  (Gen.  10  :  14), 
perhaps  of  the  17th  dynasty  of  Manetho  ;  another  at  Memphis,  the  capital  of  Mizraim 
proper,  possibly  of  the  6th  dynasty  of  the  same  author  ;  and  not  impossibly  a  third  at 
Xois,  in  the  western  part  of  the  Delta.  Other  petty  sovereignties,  that  may  have  ex- 
isted, need  not  be  considered.  The  Hyksos,  or  shepherd  kings,  not  being  designated 
by  the  seat  of  empire,  may  have  been  identical  with  the  sovereigns  of  Xois  or  Mem- 
phis, or  distinct,  and  even  superior  to  both.  In  the  last  case  the  seat  of  this  sover- 
eignty may  have  been  at  On  or  Bubastis.  The  dynasty  with  which  the  Israelites  now 
came  into  contact  was  either  this  last  supposed  one,  or  that  of  Memphis,  which  was 
convenient  to  On,  and  to  the  land  of  Goshen.  Wlio  knew  not  Joseph.  This  new  king 
may  have  been  the  founder  of  the  7th  dynasty,  or  a  contemporary  sovereign  of  the 


18  ISEAEL    OPPRESSED    IIS"    EGYPT. 

IGth.  At  all  events,  lie  came  into  power  at  least  forty  years  after  the  death  of  Joseph, 
and  about  one  hundred  years  after  he  ceased  to  take  an  active  part  in  state  affairs. 
This  allows  a  sufficient  time  for  Joseph  and  his  services  to  be  forgotten.  "  Not  to 
know"  is  in  Scripture  phrase  to  disregard.  This  new  sovereign  was  not  actuated  by 
any  sense  of  the  benefits  which  that  distinguished  Israelite  had  conferred  upon  his 
countr}-.  9,  The  people  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  They  are  now  recognized  as  no  longer  a 
family,  but  a  community.  3Iore  and  mightier  than  vjc.  This  marks  out  the  speaker  as 
the  sovereign  of  a  comparatively  small  principality,  hampered,  perhaps,  on  the  north- 
west by  one  power,  and  on  the  south  by  another.  Such  a  prince  would  feel  himself 
embarrassed  by  the  unparalleled  growth  of  this  foreign  people  within  his  borders,  and 
might  naturally  express  himself  in  the  terms  here  employed,  though  the  Israelites 
were  only  approaching  to  his  own  subjects  in  numbers  and  strength  (vs.  10).  Join 
idth  those  that  hate  us.  An  intimation  is  here  given  that  this  king  of  Mizraim  was  by 
no  means  free  from  the  dangers  of  rivalry  and  ambition,  and  was  therefore  far  from 
being  the  sole  monarch  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Those  that  hate  him  and  his  subjects 
are  the  other  sovereigns  in  Xois,  Thebes,  and  perhaps  other  parts  of  Egypt.  He 
might  be  exposed  also  to  attacks  from  the  east,  even  though  he  were  himself  an  in- 
vader from  that  quarter.  And  get  up  out  of  the  land.  Though  he  disregarded  the  jDolit- 
ical  services  rendered  by  Joseph,  yet  he  is  acquainted  with  the  origin  of  the  race, 
their  claim  to  be  free,  and  their  expectation  at  some  time  to  depart  from  Egypt.  He 
found  them  valuable,  whether  as  subjects  or  as  serfs,  and  he  does  not  wish  to  part 
with  them.  This  incidental  notice  jsroves  that  the  Israelites  were  still  mindful  of  the 
God  of  their  fathers,  and  cherished  the  hope  of  one  day  entering  into  possession  of 
the  promised  land.  We  are  elsewhere  informed  that  Ezer  and  Elead,  sons  of  Ephraim, 
were  slain  in  a  raid  by  the  men  of  Gath,  and  that  his  granddaughter  Sherah  built 
Bethhoron,  the  nether  and  the  upper,  and  Uzzen-sherah  (1  Chron.  7  :  21,  24). 
Whence  it  appears  that  in  the  days  of  their  freedom,  before  this  new  king  arose,  they 
not  only  looked  forward  to  a  settlement  in  Palestine,  but  actually  asserted  a  position 
in  the  country,  at  least  for  a  time.  This  naturally  connects  itself  with  the  share  which 
Jacob  had  given  to  Joseph  above  his  brethren  (Gen.  48  :  22),  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  district  acquired  by  Jacob  was  actually  claimed  and  taken  possession  of  by 
Ephraim,  for  whom  it  was  designed,  and  perhaps  enlarged  by  conquest  in  that  early 
period  of  the  residence  of  Israel  in  Egypt.  Whether  the  new  king  of  Mizraim  came 
from  the  region  of  Ephraim' s  early  conquests  history  has  not  enabled  us  to  say. 

11.  Taskmasters  were  superintendents  of  forced  labor.  This  was  customary  among 
all  ancient  governments,  and  especially  among  the  Egyptians,  whose  pyramids  and 
other  great  works  were  mostly  the  product  of  slave  labor.  Tr'easure-cities  were  maga- 
zines for  the  storage  of  provisions  and  other  commodities  of  war  and  police.  Pithom 
and  Raamses  were  situated  on  the  borders  of  Egypt  and  Arabia.  The  former  is  called 
by  Herodotus  an  Arabian  town,  and  said  to  be  near  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile,  a 
little  above  Bubastis,  at  the  commencement  of  the  ancient  canal  in  the  valley  of  the 
Natron  Lakes.  The  latter  was  in  the  same  valley,  farther  to  the  east,  near  the  site  of 
Heroopolis,  with  which  many  identify  it.  Lepsius  finds  it  in  the  ruins  of  Abu  Kefsiieb 
and  Heroopolis  in  Mukfar.  Osborne  endeavors  to  show  that  Pithom  is  Damietta,  and 
Eaamses  Migdol,  which  he  places  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez.  These  magazine 
cities  on  the  border  were  well  situated  for  troops  making  inroads  into  the  eastern 
world  from  Egypt.  The  Sept.  here  adds  On  ;  but  this  was  in  existence  in  the  time  of 
Joseph  (Gen.  41  :  45),  and  the  reading  is  not  otherwise  supported. 


EXODUS  I.  12-21.  19 

12-14.  So  they  multiplied.  The  policy  of  the  Egyptian  king  was  ineffectual.  The 
pTirpose  of  God  was  not  set  aside,  but  only  promoted  by  these  measures.  They  were 
vexed.  These  Egyptians  were  probably  hard  pressed  on  their  southern  frontier  by  a 
superior  power.  They  had  also  a  rooted  aversion  to  the  Israelites.  With  rigor.  By 
compulsion  they  exacted  hard  service  in  clay,  in  brick,  and  in  field  labor.  Agriculture 
was  attended  with  considerable  labor  in  the  higher  grounds  of  Egypt,  on  account  of 
the  necessity  of  watering  them  by  artificial  means.  Bricks  were  the  usual  building 
material  in  Egypt.  The  monuments  show  that  foreigners  were  employed  in  these 
servile  works  under  native  overseers. 

15-21.  Pharoh  next  applied  to  the  Hebrew  midwives  to  check  the  population  by 
murdering  the  male  infants.  They  are  called  Hebrew,  a  generic  term  applying  to  all 
the  descendants  of  Heber  (see  on  Gen.  14  :  13).  Two  midwives  only  are  mentioned  by 
name.  About  ninety  years  before  the  exodus,  and  therefore  ten  before  the  birth  of 
Moses,  the  Israelites  were  about  thirty  thousand,  and  at  the  time  of  his  birth  about 
fifty  thousand  ;  as  they  doubled  in  about  fifteen  years,  and  the  starting  number,  in- 
cluding wives,  was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty.  From  this  we  learn  to  moderate 
our  estimate  of  the  extent  of  that  kingdom  v/ith  which  the  Israelites  were  in  contact. 
All  Egypt,  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  first  Cataract,  if  united  under  one  govern- 
ment, could  not  be  afraid  of  thirty  or  fifty  thousand  men,  Avomen,  and  children.  A 
petty  state,  having  its  centre  at  Heliopolis  or  Bubastis,  and  overshadowed  by  one  or 
two  southern  powers,  might  feel  some  apprehension  of  a  small  people  that  was 
doubling  itself  in  fifteen  years.  Of  thirty  or  fifty  thousand,  much  less  than  a  third 
would  be  married  women,  and  it  may  be  that  of  these  not  more  than  a  tenth  would 
need  or  seek  the  aid  of  a  professional  midwife  ;  and  if  on  an  average  one  birth  in  each 
family  took  place  every  two  years,  the  two  midwives  would  not  have  to  attend  more 
than  one  or  two  births  every  day,  eveii  if  personal  attendance  were  always  given.  But 
we  may  presume  that  they  had  a  large  number  of  deputies  or  assistants  acting  under 
their  direction  to  meet  all  the  demands  on  their  services.  16.  The  stool.  Some  have 
supposed  this  to  mean  the  mouth  of  the  womb  ;  but  it  seems  more  likely  that  it  was 
the  basin  or  vessel  in  which  the  new-born  infant  was  received  from  the  womb.  17. 
God,  in  the  original  the  God — the  true,  everlasting,  almighty  God,  who  was  infinitely 
higher  than  Pharoh.  19.  For  they  are  lively,  of  a  vigorous  frame.  This  was  quite  true 
in  point  of  fact.  Among  the  Bedawin  to  this  day,  and  others  Avhose  bodies  are  well 
developed  by  pastoral  occupations  and  loose  clothing,  child-bearing  is  comparatively 
easy.  The  accompanying  statement  was  also  correct  in  the  majority  of  cases,  if  not 
in  all  ;  especially,  if  the  mothers  hearing  the  order  of  Pharoh  did  not  admit  the  mid- 
wife, and  she  did  not  intrude,  if  possible,  until  the  child  was  born.  Of  the  exceptions 
the  midwives,  evading  Pharoh's  question,  say  nothing.  21.  And  he  made  them  houses, 
gave  them  not  only  husbands,  but  also  children,  whieh  were  regarded  as  a  boon  and 
an  honor  by  wives.  It  is  conceivable  .that  these  women  were  unmarried,  or  if  married, 
childless,  and  therefore  at  leisure. to  devote  themselves  to  the  aid  of  those  who  were 
bearing  children.  The  word  them  is  by  some  referred  to  the  people  in  the  previous 
verse.  But  this  construction  is  harsh,  and  the  verse  in  this  sense  adds  nothing  to  what 
has  been  said  before.  Here,  as  usual,  God  requites  like  with  like.  The  mid-wives  save 
alive  the  offspring  of  the  nation  :  God  deals  well  with  them  in  giving  them  offspring.  * 

*  Many  authorities  are  content  to  understand  tiiis  as  a  general  description  of  blessing  vouchsafed 
to  them  :  "  He  blessed  them  with  abundant  prosperity."  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  while  revelation 
was  incomplete,  material  blessings  often  illustrated  and  proved  Divine  faithfulness. — J.  IT. 


20  MOSES    BORIS'    AIS'D    BROUGHT    UP. 

22.  Being  baffled  by  the  midwives,  Pharoh.,  as  a  last  resort,  commands  all  his  people 
to  cast  the  male  infants  into  the  Nile.  This  bloody  mandate  appears  to  have  been 
given  very  shortly  before  the  birth  of  Moses.  These  measures  of  the  king,  indeed, 
may  have  followed  one  another  in  rapid  succession  ;  and  the  magazine  cities,  though 
commenced  before,  may  not  have  been  completed  till  long  after  the  issue  of  the  last 
of  them.  The  period  of  serfdom  and  oppression  will  in  this  case  last  not  much  longer 
than  eighty  or  ninety  years,  namely,  from  a  few  years  before  the  birth  of  Moses  to  the 
exodus. 


II.    MOSES   BORN  AND   BROUGHT   UP.— Ex.    2. 

3.  ^12^  "^^6  papyrus  of  the  Nile  ;  r.  absorb,  drinh  up.  Hence  called  bibula  papy- 
rus (Lucan  iv.  136). 

5.  t>n~l  '^'^ci-^^  the  body,  or  any  part  of  it.  C23  ^^^^^  clothes  by  treading  with 
the  feet. 

10.  nit^D  Mosheh.  The  word,  if  taken  to  be  Hebrew,  signifies  draioing.  By 
Josephus  its  Greek  form  Mwvcr?/?  is  resolved  into  the  Coptic  //w  water,  and  voyi 
saved  from.  Mouu  water,  and  sa  drag,  may  be  the  Coptic  elements  of  the  name. 
The  corresponding  Hebrew  roots  are  probably  contained  in  ^''Q  water,  and  {<ti^j 
lift  ;  though  the  Hebrew  language  does  not  deal  freely  in  compounds.  In  ex- 
plaining the  origin  of  the  name,  however,  the  author  employs  a  verb  which  con- 
tains the  letters  that  are  in  the  Hebrew  form  of  the  word.  He  either  translates 
the  name  given  by  the  princess,  as  Melanchthon  from  Schwarzerdt,  or  she  spoke  a 
dialect  of  Hebrew.  The  latter  might  be  the  case,  if  she  was  of  the  family  of  the 
Hyksos,  who  are  supposed  to  have  come  from  Phoenicia  or  Arabia. 

18.  ^{><iy"n   ^q'-mqI,  friend  of  (aodi. 

21.  nnE)H  Zipporah,  bird,  sparrow. 

22.  ct^"l!l  Gereshom,  stranger,  exile;  r.  ^'-^J^  drive  out,  compounded  of  -]?[ 
stranger  and  c^'  ==  cii'  there.  The  latter  is  not  necessary  to  warrant  the  ex- 
pression of  the  text ;  as  the  native  speakers  of  the  language  had  a  much  freer 
and  wider  sense  of  the  relation  among  roots  than  many  of  our  philologers.  Paro- 
nomasia plays  a  part  in  their  etymology.  They  felt  a  relation  between  "jip  and  fijp 

Gen.  4  : 1,   ^^3  ^^^  ^^3   ^6^-  1^  •  ^y  Hi  ^^^  t£^"l-l-     The  rules  of  philology,  in- 
stead of  correcting,  should  be  gathered  from  these  among  other  phenomena. 

11.  1.  Then  went  a  man  of  the  house  of  Levi,  and  took  a  daughter  of  Levi.  2.  And 
the  woman  conceived  and  bare  a  .son  ;  and  she  saw  that  he  was  goodly,  and  hid  him 
three  months.  3.  And  she  could  not  longer  hide  him,  and  she  took  for  him  an  ark  of 
rushes,  and  daubed  it  with  asphalt  and  with  pitch  :  and  she  put  therein  the  child, 
and  laid  it  in  the  flags  by  the  river's  brink.  4.  And  his  sister  stood  afar  off,  to  wit 
what  would  be  done  to  him. 

5.  And  the  daughter  of  Pharoh  went  down  to  bathe  in  the  river,  and  her  maidens 
walked  along  by  the  river's  side  :  and  she  saw  the  ark  among  the  flags,  and  sent  her 
handmaid,  and  she  fetched  it.  6.  And  she  opened  it,  and  saw  the  child,  and  lo  the 
babe  wept  :  and  she  had  pity  on  him,  and  said,  This  is  one  of  the  Hebrews'  children. 
7.  Then  said  his  sister  to  Pharoh's  daughter.  Shall  I  go  and  call  to  thee  a  nurse  of  the 
Hebrew  women,  and  she  shall  nurse  the  child  for  thee  ?  8.  And  Pharoh's  daughter  said 
to  her,  Go.     And  the  maid  went  and  called  the  child's  mother,   9.   And  Pharoh's 


EXODUS   II.  21 

daughter  said  unto  her,  Take  this  child  away  and  nurse  him  for  me,  and  I  will  give 
thee  thy  wages.  And  the  woman  took  the  child  and  nursed  him.  10.  And  the  child 
grew,  and  she  brought  him  to  Pharoh's  daughter,  and  he  became  her  son,  and  she 
called  his  name  Moses  ;  and  said,  Because  I  drew  him  out  of  the  water. 

11,  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  Moses  grew  up  and  came  out  unto  his 
brethren,  and  looked  on  their  burdens  :  and  he  saw  a  Mizrite  smiting  a  Hebrew,  one  of 
his  brethren.  12.  And  he  turned  this  way  and  that  way,  and  saw  that  there  was  no 
man  :  and  he  smote  the  Mizrite,  and  hid  him  in  the  sand.  13.  And  he  came  out  the 
second  day,  and  lo  two  Hebrews  were  striving  :  and  he  said  unto  the  wrong-doer.  Why 
smitest  thou  thy  neighbor  ?  14.  And  he  said,  Who  made  thee  a  ruler  and  a  judge 
over  us  ?  Intendest  thou  to  slay  me,  as  thou  slewest  the  Mizrite  ?  And  Moses  feared, 
and  said,  Surely  the  thing  is  known.  15.  And  Pharoh  heard  this  thing,  and  sought  to 
slay  Moses  ;  and  Moses  fled  from  the  face  of  Pharoh,  and  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Midian  ; 
and  he  sat  by  the  well. 

16.  Now  the  priest  of  Midian  had  seven  daughters  :  and  they  came  and  drew,  and 
filled  the  troughs  to  water  their  father's  flock.  17.  Then  came  the  shepherds  and 
drove  them  away  :  and  Moses  stood  up  and  saved  them,  and  watered  their  flock.  18. 
And  they  went  to  Keuel  their  father  ;  and  he  said.  Why  are  ye  come  so  soon  to-day  ? 
19.  And  they  said,  A  Mizrite  delivered  us  out  of  the  hand  of  the  shepherds  :  and  he 
also  drew  enough  for  us,  and  watered  the  flock.  20.  And  he  said  unto  his  daughters, 
And  where  is  he  ?  Why  is  it  that  ye  have  left  the  man  ?  Call  him,  and  let  him  eat 
bread.  21.  And  Moses  was  content  to  dwell  with  the  man  :  and  he  gave  Zipporah  his 
daughter  to  Moses.  22.  And  she  bare  a  son,  and  he  called  his  name  Gershom  ;  for 
he  said,  I  have  been  a  stranger  in  a  foreign  land.  ^  3. 

23.  And  it  came  to  pass  many  days  after,  that  the  king  of  Mizraim  died  :  and  the 
sons  of  Israel  sighed  by  reason  of  the  service,  and  cried  ;  and  their  cry  went  up  to 
God  by  reason  of  the  service.  24.  And  God  heard  their  groaning,  and  God  remem- 
bered his  covenant  with  Abraham,  with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob.  25.  And  God  saw  the 
sons  of  Israel,  and  God  had  regard  unto  them.  §  1. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  is  recorded  the  extremity  of  the  chosen  seed.  This  hard 
pressure  of  afiliction  was  not  unneeded.  In  the  abundance  and  prosperity  of  Goshen 
they  had  well-nigh  forgotten  the  absolute  and  exclusive  claim  of  God  on  their  homage 
and  obedience.  Nothing  but  the  strong  hand  of  oppression  could  bring  them  to  a 
sense  of  their  dependence  and  their  duty.  But  they  were  a  chosen  race.  Much  is 
implied  in  this.  The  Most  High  does  not  allow  them,  as  he  might  otherwise  have 
done,  to  merge  into  the  superstition  and  apostasy  of  the  surrounding  nations.  He 
has,  moreover,  a  purpose  to  serve  by  them,  an  end  ulterior  to  their  own  spiritual  ben- 
efit. He  intends  through  them  to  perpetuate  the  knowledge  of  God,  to  bring  in  the 
Kedeemer  into  the  world,  to  effect  a  redemption  that  will  be  sufficient  for  all  the 
nations  of  mankind,  and  finally  to  bring  all  the  world  into  reconciliation  with  himself 
and  with  themselves.  He  will  not  be  thwarted  in  this  sublime  and  benign  purpose. 
He  has  therefore  laid  the  heavy  hand  of  chastisement  on  this  people  to  bring  them  to 
repentance.  He  will  not,  however,  leave  them  to  perish  by  the  murderous  devices  of 
Pharoh.  He  will  gradually  prepare  them  to  shake  off  the  fetters  of  Egypt,  and  take 
their  departure  for  the  land  of  promise.  And  his  providence  is  at  work  in  another 
direction.  Immediately  after  the  issue  of  the  bloody  edict  for  the  extermination  of 
the  people  the  deliverer  is  born  who  is  to  head  the  movement  of  national  emancipa- 
tion, and  is  preserved  from  destruction  by  the  indirect  influence  of  the  hostile  mon- 
arch himself. 

In  this  chapter,  accordingly,  we  have  the  parentage,  birth,  preservation,  education, 
and  exile  of  Moses,  the  coming  deliverer  of  God's  people.  The  historian  reverts  to  a 
point  of  time  anterior  perhaps  to  any  of  the  despotic  measures  of  the  sovereign,  and 
enters  upon  another  line  of  events. 


22  MOSES   PRESERVED. 

1-4.  The  parentage  and  birth  of  Moses.  A  man  of  the  house  of  Levi,  Amram  (Ex. 
6  :  20).  A  daughter  of  Levi,  Jokebed.  Hence  it  appears  that  Moses  was  a  Hebrew  of 
the  Hebrews.  Levi  was  forty-four  years  old  when  he  came  down  to  "Egypt,  We  may 
suppose  that  Jokebed  was  born  to  him  when  he  was  one  hundred  years  of  age,  and 
therefore  sixty-six  years  after  the  immigration.  Amram  may  have  been  born  about 
the  same  time  with  his  aunt,  or  even  somewhat  earlier.  For  his  father  Kohath  (Ex. 
6  :  18)  may  have  been  twenty  years  old  when  he  came  to  Egypt,  and  consequently 
eighty-six  when  Jokebed  was  born.  About  fifty  years  after,  we  may  suppose,  the 
nephew  and  aunt  were  married.  There  was  not  yet  any  law  prohibiting  the  marriage 
of  such  relatives.  A  year  after  their  marriage,  the  daughter  mentioned  in  the  narra- 
tive may  have  been  born,  and  fourteen  years  after  the  same  date  Moses,  who  was 
eighty  years  old  at  the  exodus.  These  numbers  (66  +  50  -}- 14  +  80)  make  up  two 
hundred  and  ten,  the  number  of  years  daring  which  the  Israelites  sojourned  in  Egypt. 

2.  Goodly,  perfect,  as  if  it  had  come  directly  from  the  hands  of  God  without  contract- 
ing any  outward  stain  from  its  parents.  Such  is  the  force  of  Stephen's  explanatory 
phrase,  aareloS  rtj  Qeu,  beautiful  before  God.  And  hid  him  three  months.  Maternal 
affection,  the  beauty  of  the  child,  and  hope  in  God,  combined  to  produce  this  attempt 
at  his  preservation.  3.  An  ark  of  rushes.  This  reminds  us  of  the  ark  of  the  flood 
(Gen.  6  :  14).  The  rush  was  the  papyrus,  growing  to  the  height  of  ten  feet,  and 
formerly  abounding  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The  root  was  used  for  fuel,  the  stem 
for  making  boats,  and  the  bark  or  rind  for  making  sails,  shoes,  garments,  and  paper. 
The  papyrus  rolls  are  found  in  the  mummy-cases  to  this  day,  and  may  be  unrolled 
and  read.  Asphalt  and  pitch— the  former  to  fill  up  the  interstices  and  make  all  smooth, 
the  latter  to  make  the  little  vessel  water-tight.  Put  therein  the  child.  This  is  a 
mother's  last  effort  to  save  the  doomed  babe.  It  may  appear  feeble  and  hopeless  ;  but 
it  was  done  in  faith,  and  it  proved  successful.     4.  His  sister  is  set  to  watch  the  result. 

5-10.  The  rescue  of  Moses  from  a  watery  grave.  The  king's  daughter,  with  her 
attendants,  comes  forth  to  bathe  in  the  Nile,  the  waters  of  which  were  considered 
sacred  and  salutary.  In  a  primitive  state  of  society  the  females*  of  the  East  enjoyed 
a  greater  degree  of  liberty  than  in  after  times,  when  they  began  to  be  guarded  with 
jealous  care  in  the  seclusion  of  the  harem,  and  concealed  on  a  journey  from  the  com- 
mon gaze  by  the  long  and  thick  veil  of  the  East.  With  all  a  female's  fond  affection, 
she  has  pity  on  the  weeping  babe.  Scripture  is  very  choice  in  picking  out  the  cir- 
cumstances that  give  effect  to  the  scene.  This  is  one  of  the  Hebrews'  children.  She  is 
aware  of  the  royal  edict,  and  comprehends  the  whole  affair  at  a  glance.  This  tiny 
vessel  is  the  last  effort  of  a  mother's  affection  to  cast  on  Providence  the  care  of  her 
babe.  7.  His  sister,  certainly,  whether  prompted  or  not,  is  equal  to  her  task.  She 
appears  at  the  proper  time,  and  puts  the  fitting  question.  8.  Pharoh'  s  daughter  is  too 
glad  to  be  relieved  of  her  perplexity  by  saying,  Go.  The  maid,  the  well-grown  and 
marriageable  virgin,  as  the  term  implies.  This  makes  it  probable  that  she  was  now 
about  thirteen  years  of  age  at  least,  as  we  have  supposed.  10.  And  she  called  his  name 
Moses.  His  parents,  most  probably,  had  given  him  a  name  during  the  time  he  was 
with  them,  before  he  became  the  adopted  son  of  Pharoh' s  daughter.  But  in  ancient 
times  the  same  individual  often  received  different  names  from  successive  memorable 
incidents  in  his  life  (Gen.  3  :  20  ;  10  :  25  ;  17  :  5. ;  25  :  30).     The  adopter  had  a  right  to, 

*  The  evidence  of  this  is  in  Wilkinson's  "Ancient  Egyptians,"  Vol.  III.,  in  which  a  bathing  scene 
with  a  noble  Egyptian  woman  and  four  attendants  is  reproduced.  The  "  sister"  of  v.  4  was  probably 
Miriam.    See  cb.  15  :  20.— J.  H. 


EXODUS  II.  11-15.  23 

giVe  a  name  to  the  adopted,  and  this  name  has  prevailed  over  that  which  may  have 
been  given  by  his  parents.  Josephus  calls  Pharoh's  daughter  Thermuthis  ;  Ensebius 
calls  her  Merrhis  ;  but  these  determinations  are  founded  on  chronological  combina- 
liDns  which  have  not  yet  been  established. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  Pharoh's  court  was  contiguous  to  the  region  occupied  by  the 
Israelites.  This  favors  the  notion  of  a  small  kingdom  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Delta, 
to  the  extent  of  which  a  tribe  of  thirty  or  fifty  thousand  would  bear  some  notable  re- 
lation. It  is  plain,  too,  that  the  royal  residence  was  for  the  time  being  not  far  from 
the  Nile.  This  will  agree  very  well  with  Bubastis  being  at  least  the  occasional  abode 
of  the  royal  family. 

It  is  probable  that  the  exterminating  edict  was  withdrawn  at  or  soon  after  the  res- 
cue of  Moses.  The  caprice  and  passion  of  a  desjDot  might  hastily  issue  such  a  decree. 
But  afterthoughts  would  soon  suggest  the  folly  of  cutting  off  this  useful  horde  of 
serfs  in  a  single  generation.  The  debasement  of  the  feelings  by  forced  labor — which 
would  render  them  more  serviceable  as  slaves,  and  less  formidable  as  rebels — is  a 
much  more  satisfactory  measure  to  an  arbitrary  government.  Moreover,  the  natural 
feelings  of  humanity  revolt  against  the  indiscriminate  and  continued  murder  of  male 
infants.  The  measure  would  be  unpopular  with  his  subjects,  and  with  the  members 
of  his  own  family  as  soon  as  Moses  appeared  there,  and  would  therefore  soon  be 
abandoned.     Accordingly  we  hear  no  more  of  it. 

11-15.  The  flight  of  Moses,  lyi  those  days.  This  phrase  here  covers  a  space  of  forty 
years  or  more.  Moses  grew  up,  arrived  at  maturity.  He  came  out  unto  his  brethren.  It 
is  evident  that  the  tie  between  Moses  and  his  parents  had  never  been  broken.  The 
charms  of  a  court  life  for  nearly  forty  years  had  not  closed  his  ears  against  the  cries 
of  his  afflicted  people.  His  heart  felt  that  the  sufferers  were  his  brethren.  He  saw  a 
Mizrite  smiting  a  Hebrew — one  of  the  taskmasters  correcting  a  serf  under  his  charge, 
or,  more  probably,  a  private  individual,  in  the  mere  arrogance  of  his  political  superi- 
ority, maltreating  one  of  the  inferior  race  whom  he  has  chanced  to  meet.  Moses, 
whose  spirit  had  not  been  broken  by  the  bondage  common  to  the  rest  of  his  race,  in- 
stantly taking  the  side  of  the  oppressed,  slays  the  Egyptian,  and  buries  him  in  the 
sand.  He  may  not  have  intended  to  deal  a  fatal  blow,  or  he  may  not  have  been  able 
to  avoid  it  in  self-defence  ;  but  no  such  explanation  is  offered  in  the  text.  We  may 
not  wish  to  stand  over  this  deed  in  all  its  length  and  breadth  ;  but  we  must  not  de- 
nounce it,  as  we  might  if  it  were  done  in  our  day.  In  a  time  and  place  where  the 
wild  will  and  the  high  hand  have  the  rule,  he  that  lifts  the  hand  not  for  selfish  ends, 
but  for  the  defence  of  the  weak,  is  not  to  be  hastily  condemned.  He  has  much  of  the 
spirit  of  the  magistrate,  where  the  law  and  its  administrator  are  wanting.  13.  The 
next  day  he  sees  two  Hebrews  striving.  He  expostulates  with  the  wrong-doer,  who 
rudely  repels  his  interference  with  the  alarming  question,  "  Intendest  thou  to  slay  me 
as  thou  slewest  the  Mizrite  ?' '  These  were  the  noticeable  acts  which  decided  Moses's 
future  course.  They  tell  much  of  what  was  working  within  his  breast.  For  the  last 
thirty  years  we  may  imagine  him  now  and  then  stealing  out  of  the  royal  precincts  to 
look  on  the  burdens  of  his  people.  Oft  with  a  sore  heart  may  the  young  patriot  have 
returned  to  the  palace,  contrasted  the  freedom,  luxury,  and  mental  culture  around 
him  with  the  degradation  of  that  race  which  he  knew  was  chosen  of  God  to  hold  the 
foremost  rank  and  achieve  the  noblest  ends  for  humanity.  The  hope  of  their  de- 
liverance was  cherished.  The  wish  to  take  part  in  it  was  gathering  strength  with  his 
years.     Ho  was  at  length  precipitated  into  action  by  the  scenes  before  him.     But  the 


24  MOSES    MAKRIED. 

rude  question,  "  Who  made  thee  a  niler  and  a  judge  over  ns  ?"  prompted,  perhaps,  by 
his  courtly  guise  and  long  isolation  from  his  people,  quenched  his  ardent  aspirations. 
Having  broken  with  Egypt,  and  been  rejected  by  his  kindred,  he  had  no  course  for 
the  present  but  exile.     (See  Acts  7  :  21-29  ;  Heb.  11  :  24-26.) 

.  Moses  was  now  forty  years  of  age  (Acts  7  :  22,  23).  This  period  of  physical  and  in- 
tellectual growth  he  had  spent  at  the  court  of  Pharoh,  and  therefore  had  received  the 
highest  education  the  country  could  afford.  The  annual  overflow  of  the  Nile  impart- 
ing a  constant  fertility  to  the  soil  rendered  Egypt  j)re-eminently  an  agricultural  coun- 
try. The  necessity  of  marking  the  time  of  its  rise  led  to  the  study  of  astronomy  and 
chronology.  To  determine  the  height  to  which  it  rose  in  successive  years,  and  the 
boundaries  of  landed  property  which  were  liable  to  be  obliterated  by  its  waters,  they 
were  constrained  to  turn  their  attention  to  geometr}^  To  the  successful  prosecution 
of  mathematical  science,  and  for  the  recording  of  the  observations  needful  for  its 
practical  application,  the  art  of  writing  was  essential  ;  and  the  papyrus  reed  afforded 
the  ready  material  for  such  records.  In  these  circumstances,  the  heavenly  bodies, 
the  Nile,  and  the  animals  of  their  country,  became  absorbing  objects  of  attention,  and 
eventually  of  worship.  Music  was  also  diligently  cultivated  in  Egypt.  Moses  must 
have  been  familiar  with  the  language,  literature,  and  science  of  Egypt,  as  well  as  with 
the  corruptions  of  its  theology.  This  was  the  one  side  of  his  character.  On  the  other 
side  he  was  closely  allied  by  intercourse  and  feeling  with  his  kindred,  and  therefore 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  monuments  of  sacred  history  which  were  handed 
down  to  them,  the  elements  of  a  pure  theology,  natural  and  revealed,  which  had  been 
preserved  by  them,  their  present  sufferings,  and  their  future  destiny.  We  cannot 
conceive  a  providential  training  more  admirably  adapted  for  the  part  he  was  to  perform 
as  the  deliverer,  legislator,  and  historian  of  the  people  of  God. 

15.  Midian  was  the  son  of  Abraham,  and  half-brother  of  Isaac.  The  Midianites 
were,  therefore,  the  kinsfolk  of  Moses.  A  great  part  of  Arabia,  indeed,  was  occupied 
with  descendants  of  Heber,  the  ancestor  of  Abraham  and  the  Israelites.  Thither  it 
was  natural  for  Moses  to  flee.  The  land  of  Midian  lay  partly  south-west  of  Moab  and 
partly  on  the  coast  of  the  Aelanitic  Gulf,  to  the  south-western  extremity  of  which  the 
tribe  seems  to  have  penetrated.  And  he  sat  'by  the  well,  the  well-known  place  of  re- 
freshment and  rest  for  the  traveller,  and  of  common  resort  for  the  natives  of  the 
country. 

16-22.  The  settlement  and  marriage  of  Moses  in  Midian.  The  priest  of  Midian.  The 
ancient  order  of  elders  held  a  place  in  the  polity  of  Midian  (Num.  22  : 4).  The 
supreme  government  seems  to  have  been  a  commonwealth  or  confederacy,  as  there 
were  five  kings  of  Midian  in  the  time  of  the  entrance  of  Israel  into  the  promised  land 
(Num.  31  : 8),  and  two  princes  and  two  kings  are  mentioned  in  the  days  of  Gideon 
(Judg.  8  :  3,  5).  As  in  primitive  times  the  sacred  and  civil  functions  were  generally 
united  in  one  person,  the  priest  of  Midian  was  probably  at  least  an  elder  in  the  state  ; 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  was  not  a  priest  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
term,  as  the  civil  functionaries  of  Midian,  we  find,  were  designated  by  several  other 
terms.  We  have  already  met  with  the  early  custom  of  daughters  tending  flocks  (Gen. 
29  :  6).  They  often  needed  defenders,  as  the  weak  are  often  wronged  by  the  strong. 
A  Mizrite.  Moses  is  so  regarded,  as  he  probably  wore  the  garb  and  spoke  the  language 
of  Egypt,  and  may  have  stated  that  he  was  a  fugitive  from  that  country.  Why  is  it  tliat 
ye  have  left  the  man  ?  A  feeling  of  innate  modesty,  or  a  proper  sense  of  their  depend- 
ence as  children,  may  have  prevented  the  invitation  proceeding  immediately  from 


EXODUS    III.  25 

themselves.     He  gave  Zipporah,  his  daughter,  to  Moses.     She  was  a  descendent  of  Abra- 
ham, and  so  of  the  kindred  of  Moses.     The  connection  was  therefore  suitable. 

23-25.  The  sacred  writer  now  resumes  the  general  thread  of  the  narrative,  and  de- 
scribes with  a  few  touches  the  crying  oppression  under  which  the  people  of  Israel  had 
now  long  labored.  Many  days  after.  The  whole  of  the  events  following  occurred  dur- 
ing an  interval  of  forty  years,  the  period  of  Moses's  sojourn  in  Midian.  The  king  of 
Mizraim  died.  This  may  have  taken  place  shortly  after  Moses  left  the  country  ;  but  it 
did  not  abate  the  sufferings  of  the  people.  His  successor  pursued  the  same  cruel 
policy.  Their  hard  service  commenced  some  time  before  the  birth  of  Moses,  and  had 
now  therefore  lasted  more  than  eighty  years.  Sighed  and  cried.  The  haughty  spirit 
which  denounced  the  defender  and  adviser  as  a  self-constituted  ruler  and  judge  was 
now  subdued.  The  wail  of  deep  affiiction  ascended  from  broken  hearts  to  heaven,  to 
the  living  God.  God  heard  their  groaning.  He  hears  all  groanings.  But  he  also  re- 
membered his  covenant  with  their  fathers  (Gen.  17  : 2,  21  ;  46  : 2-4).  He  not  only 
heard,  but  saw  the  sons  of  Israel  under  the  oppressor.  He  not  only  observed,  as  it 
were,  with  the  outward  senses,  but  knew  with  the  inward  mind,  and  acknowledged 
them  to  be  the  seed  of  the  covenant.  Such  is  the  manner  in  which  the  narrator  lays 
emphasis  on  the  earnest  attention  with  which  the  Lord  regards  the  afaiction  of  his 
people. 


III.    MOSES   CALLED   AND    COMMISSIONED.— Ex.    3,    4. 

CHAP.    III.  —  MOSES    CALLED. 

1.  "^-"ipt  Jithro,  profit.,  pre-eminence ;  r.  he  over  and  above.  2~!n  Choreb,  dry 
place;  r.  drain. 

14.  ninis*  "Iti^'K  rC,r\^  Ehjeh,  for  I am.  We  approach  -with  reverence  to  the 
discussion  of  this  remarkable  sentence.  It  has  been  rendered  in  two  different 
ways  :  (1.)  I  am,  because  I  am  ;  and  (2.)  I  am  tliat  which  lam.  The  latter,  we 
presume,  is  the  meaning  of  the  English  version,  I  am  that  I  am.  There  are 
three  decisive  objections  to  this  rendering  :  1st.  It  takes  the  whole  sentence  to 
be  the  name,  like  Shear-jashub  (a  remnant  shall  return),  Maher-shalal-hash-baz 
(haste  to  the  spoil,  speed  to  the  prey),  the  names  of  Isaiah's  children.  But  the 
first  word  Ehjeh,  is  the  whole  name,  as  is  evident  from  the  remainder  of  the 
verse  :  "  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  Ehjeh  hath  sent  me  unto 
you."  2d.  It  lays  the  emphasis  on  that  which  is  not  expressed  in  the  name.  It 
therefore  conveys  no  information  :  for  it  states  in  words  that  God  is  that  which 
he  is  ;  but  does  not  tell  what  that  is.  It  is  not  distinctive  of  God  ;  for  the  say- 
ing, I  am  that  I  am,  may  be  applied  to  any  being  whatever  ;  and  is,  moreover,  a 
mere  triviality.  It  is,  if  anything,  a  mere  intimation  of  the  inscrutable  mystery 
of  the  divine  nature  ;  yet  it  does  not  even  afRrm  that  he  is  the  Inconceivable,  and 
therefore  Ineffable.  And  even  if  it  did,  this  bare  thought  is  not  fitted  to  implant 
confidence  or  induce  persuasion  in  the  minds  of  the  Israelites.  And  3d,  the  sen- 
tence tlms  rendered  does  not  express  the  idea  conveyed  in  the  word  Ehjeh,  which 
is  substituted  for  it  in  the  latter  part  of  the  verse.     The  former  is  at  best  purely 


26  MOSES    CALLED. 

negative  ;  the  latter  is  purely  positive.  Hence  the  two  forms  of  the  name  would 
be  inconsistent  in  meaning. 

The  latter  rendering  being  on  these  grounds  untenable,  the  former  must  be  re- 
garded as  correct.  It  agrees  with  the  Yulg.  Ego  sum,  qui  sum,  and  the  Sept. 
'E/w  ELixt  6  uv,  in  making  part  of  the  sentence  the  name,  though  it  differs  from 
them  in  taking  the  first  word,  not  the  latter  two,  as  the  name.  It  affords  a  good 
sense.  It  finds  in  the  answer  of  God  the  new  name,  and  the  reason  of  it,  whether 
we  translate  "iti^'is*  who,  as  for,  because,  or  since.  I  am  (is  my  name),  for  I  am. 
It  gives  the  same  name  in  the  two  parts  of  the  verse,  and  the  same  sense  in  each. 
It  also  agrees  with  the  structure  of  the  Hebrew  and  with  the  Masoretic  pointing, 
in  which  there  is  a  pause  after  the  first  word,  thus  :  n''  HN*-  I^  only  remains  to 
ascertain  what  is  the  meaning  of  Ehjeh. 

1st.  The  verb  fiTl  I'efers  not  to  the  abstract  existence  of  the  schoolmen,  but  to 
the  concrete  being  of  the  unsophisticated  Hebrew  mind,  that  is,  being  as  active  and 
obvious  to  the  senses  (see  on  Gen.  1  :  2).  This,  when  applied  to  the  Eternal, 
means,  therefore  not  absolute  beginning  or  essential  change  of  being,  but  that 
eventual  modification  of  being  which  is  implied  in  engaging  in  a  new  course  of 
action  manifesting  the  agent  to  have  being.  To  be,  in  a  word,  is  to  act  in  such 
a  way  as  to  manifest  one's  being  to  a  competent  observer.  2d.  j^i]-\^  is  that 
form  of  the  verb  which  denotes  the  incipient  stage  of  an  action  or  event.  It 
means,  therefore,  I  go  to  de,  I  am  on  the  point  of  proving  myself  to  be  by  a 
noticeable  action.  In  regard  to  the  chosen  seed  I  have  heretofore  mainly  prom- 
ised ;  I  am  now  about  to  appear  in  performance  of  my  promise.  3d.  The  verb 
is  in  the  first  person,  because  the  speaker  is  naming  himself  with  all  the  em- 
phasis of  personal  identification.  It  is  obvious  that  this  was  a  stiikingly  signi- 
ficant and  appropriate  name  for  Moses  to  bear  to  the  peojDle,  as  it  announced  a 
present  God,  come  down  to  fulfil  his  covenant  and  perform  his  promise  to  the 
afiiicted  descendants  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 

III.  1.  And  Moses  was  keeping  the  flock  of  Jethro  his  father-in-law,  the  priest  of 
Midian  :  and  he  led  the  flock  behind  the  wilderness,  and  came  to  the  mountain  of 
God,  to  Horeb.  2.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a  flame  of  fire 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  bush  :  and  he  looked,  and,  lo,  the  bush  burned  with  fire,  and 
the  bush  was  not  consumed.  3.  And  Moses  said,  Let  me  now  turn  aside  and  see  this 
great  sight,  why  the  bush  does  not  burn.  4.  And  the  Lord  saw  that  he  turned  aside 
to  see  ;  and  God  called  unto  him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  bush,  and  said  Moses,  Moses. 
And  he  said.  Here  am  I.  5.  And  he  said,  Draw  not  nigh  hither  :  put  off  thy  shoes 
from  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground. 

6  And  he  said,  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.  And  Moses  hid  his  face,  for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God. 
7.  And  the  Lord  said,  I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people  who  are  in 
Mizraim,  and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their  exactors  ;  for  I  know  their  sor- 
rows. 8.  And  I  came  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand  of  Mizraim,  and  to  bring 
them  up  out  of  that  land  unto  a  good  and'  large  land,  unto  a  land  flowing  with  miUc 
and  honey  ;  unto  the  place  of  the  Kenaanite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Amorite,  and 
the  Perizzite,  and  the  Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite.  9.  And  now,  behold,  the  cry  of  the 
sons  of  Israel  is  come  unto  me  :  and  I  have  also  seen  the  oppression  wherewith 
Mizraim  oppresseth  them.  10.  And  now  come,  and  I  will  send  thee  unto  Pharoh  : 
and  bring  forth  my  people  the  sons  of  Israel  out  of  Mizraim. 

11.  And  Moses  said  unto  God,  Who  am  I,  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharoh  ;  and  that 
I  should  bring  forth  the  sons  of  Israel  out  of  Mizraim  ?     12.  And  He  said,  For  1  will 


EXODUS   III.  27 

be  with  thee,  and  this  shall  be  unto  thee  the  token  that  I  have  sent  thee  :  when  thou 
hast  brought  forth  the  people  out  of  Mizraim  ye  shall  serve  God  upon  this  mountain. 

13.  And  Moses  said  unto  God,  Lo,  I  shall  go  to  the  sons  of  Israel  and  say  unto 
them.  The  God  of  your  fathers  hath  sent  me  unto  you  ;  and  they  shall  say  to  me,  What 
is  his  name  ?  what  shall  I  say  unto  them  ?  14,  And  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  am,  for  I 
am.  And  he  said,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  I  am  hath  sent  me 
unto  you. 

15.  And  God  said  again  unto  Moses,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel, 
The  Lord,  the  God  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto  you  :  this  is  my  name  forever,  and  this  is  my  memo- 
rial unto  all  generations.  16.  Go  and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel  and  say  unto  them. 
The  Lord,  the  God  of  your  fathers  hath  appeared  to  me,  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  saying,  I  have  surely  visited  you  and  seen  that  which  is  done  to  you  in 
Mizraim.  17.  And  I  said,  I  will  bring  you  up  out  of  the  affliction  of  Mizraim  unto  the 
land  of  the  Kenaanite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Amorite,  and  the  Perizzite,  and  Hivite, 
and  the  Jebusite  ;  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  18.  And  they  shall 
hearken  to  thy  voice  ;  and  thou  shalt  go,  thou  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  unto  the  king 
of  Mizraim,  and  ye  shall  say  unto  him,  The  Lord,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  hath  met 
with  us  ;  and  now  let  us  go,  we  pray,  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness,  and 
sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our  God.  19.  And  I  know  that  the  king  of  Mizraim  will  not  let 
you  go,  but  by  a  mighty  hand.  20.  And  I  will  stretch  out  my  hand,  and  smite  Mizraim 
with  all  my  wonders,  which  I  will  do  in  the  midst  thereof  :  and  after  that  he  will  let 
you  go,  21.  And  I  will  give  this  people  favor  in  the  eyes  of  Mizraim  :  and  it  shall 
come  to  pass  that  when  ye  go,  ye  shall  not  go  empty.  22.  And  every  woman  shall  ask 
of  her  neighbor,  and  of  her  that  sojourneth,  in  her  house,  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels 
of  gold,  and  garments,  and  ye  shall  put  them  on  your  sons  and  on  your  daughters,  and 
ye  shall  spoil  Mizraim. 

Slowly  and  constantly  for  the  last  eighty  years  the  oppression  of  Israel  has  been 
growing  to  a  head,  and  now  the  Lord  himself  appears  on  the  scene.  He  has  not,  in- 
deed, been  all  that  time  an  idle  observer  of  their  miseries.  In  the  silence  and  secrecy 
of  his  providence  the  deliverer  has  been  growing  up,  and  is  rip(3  for  his  task  at  the 
very  hour  of  need.     The  Lord  now  comes  to  call  him  to  his  work. 

The  chronology  of  the  interesting  events  about  to  be  recorded  is  not  minutely  laid 
down.  To  give  definiteness,  however,  to  our  conceptions  of  the  course  of  things,  it  is 
desirable  to  fix  approximately  the  shortest  period  in  which  they  might  have  occurred. 
The  earliest  day  for  the  full  moon  on  the  15th  of  Nisan,  the  first  day  of  unleavened 
bread,  was  the  22d  of  March.  It  is  possible  for  the  events  between  the  vision  at 
Horeb  and  the  first  passover  to  have  taken  place  with  some  degree  of  probability  in, 
at  the  least,  eighty  days.  This  number  we  obtain  by  allowing  for  the  journey  from 
Horeb  to  Midian  and  thence  to  Egypt  thirteen  days  ;  for  the  first  interviews  with  the 
people  and  with  Pharoh  seven  days  ;  for  eight  plagues,  at  seven  days  each,  fifty-six 
days  ;  and  for  the  plague  of  darkness  four  days.  The  following  table  will  make  the 
arrangement  plain  : 

Horeb  to  Egypt,  till Jan.  13  Murrain,  till .Feb.  24 

First  Interview Jan.  20  Boils Mar.    3 

Plague  of  Blood Jan.  27  Hail Mar.  10 

Frogs Feb.    3  Locusts Mar,  17 

Lice • Feb.  10  Darkness Mar.  21 

The  Fly Feb.  17 

The  particulars  of  this  presumptive  arrangement  will  be  noticed  as  we  proceed. 
Some  have  protracted  the  interval  to  nearly  ten  months,  in  order  to  bring  the  first 


28  MOSES    CALLED. 

plague  to  the  end  of  June,  when  the  Nile  begins  to  rise  and  assume  a  red  and  turbid 
appearance.  But  the  first  plague  is  of  a  nature  entirely  different  from  the  periodical 
change  of  color  at  the  swelling  of  the  Nile  ;  and  moreover  it  is  highly  improbable  that 
the  ten  plagues  were  spread  over  a  period  of  nine  months. 

1-5.  The  Lord  appears  to  Moses.  Jethro,  the  pre-eminent.  "We  have  again  and 
again  to  notice  instances  of  the  same  individual  having  several  names.  He  who  was 
the  eminent  in  one  sense  was  in  another  the  friend  of  God  (2  :  18).  The  names  are 
quite  consistent.  Behind  the  loilderness.  Jethro's  dwelling  was  doubtless  east  of  Horeb, 
probably  on  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Akabah  ;  but  we  cannot  define  it  more  closely.  A 
wilderness  lay  between  it  and  the  springs  and  green  valleys  intersecting  the  range  of 
Horeb,  which  was  therefore  behind  the  wilderness,  because  it  was  both  on  the  other 
side  from  Jethro's  home,  and  to  the  west  of  the  intervening  region.  The  moimtain  of 
God.  This  range  of  hills  earned  this  name,  if  not  from  some  previous  manifestation 
of  God,  yet  from  the  signal  displays  of  his  presence  and  power  which  are  about  to  be 
narrated.  2,  3.  The  angel  of  the  Lord.  See  on  Gen.  16  :  7.  In  a  flame  of  fire.  The 
primary  effect  of  the  flame  of  fire  is  to  consume  ;  the  secondary,  to  purify.  When 
transferred  to  spiritual  things,  that  which  is  fuel  to  the  fire  is  moral  evil  (29  :  14:),  and 
that  which  remains  after  its  work  is  dojie  is  the  pure,  the  holy  (Num.  31  :  23).  Fire, 
however,  does  not  make  pure,  but  merely  leaves  the  pure  untouched.  The  Lord  has 
often  appeared  in  fire  (19  :  18  ;  24  :  17  ;  Lev.  9  :  24).  The  hush.  This  was  a  species  of 
thorn.  The  hawthorn,  according  to  Shaw  and  Pococke,  abounds  in  the  region  of 
Horeb.  TVas  not  consigned.  The  fire  was  supernatural,  and  did  not  affect  the  vegeta- 
tive life  of  the  bush.  This  it  was  that  arrested  the  attention  of  Moses.  It  was  truly 
a  "  great  sight,"  an  unusual  and  notable  phenomenon  standing  out  from  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature.  The  mode  of  the  divine  appearance  is  not  without  design.  It  has 
a  significance  fitting  the  occasion.  The  bush  that  lives  unscathed  by  the  lambent 
flame  that  winds  round  all  its  leaves  and  branches,  is  an  emblem  of  that  which  is  pure 
and  holy,  and  therefore  of  the  true  church  of  God  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  The 
lowliness  of  the  shrub  comports  well  with  the  seeming  feebleness  and  insignificance 
of  the  people  of  God.  The  flame  of  fire  corresponds  with  the  fiery  trial  through  which 
they  have  had  to  pass,  that  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  which  had  grown  up  in  Egypt,  might 
be  consumed,  and  faith  and  its  kindred  virtues  be  left  behind  in  all  their  vigor  and 
beauty. 

4,  5.  The  Lord  saw  .  .  .  God  called.  It  would  be  the  affectation  of  criticism  to 
investigate  in  every  case  the  ground  for  the  distinctive  use  of  these  names.  Yet  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  writer  used  them  with  a  clear  consciousness  of  their  meaning. 
In  mentioning  that  the  "  Lokd  saw"  Moses  turning  aside  to  see,  he  regarded  him,  we 
must  suppose,  as  the  Great  Being  who  has  manifested  himself  and  is  present  in  the 
work  of  creation  ;  and  in  adding  that  "  God  called  "  unto  him,  he  had  before  his  mind 
the  supernatural,  invisible  sphere  out  of  which  the  Eternal  Omnipotent  uttered  his 
voice,  Moses,  Moses,  as  in  Gen.  22  :  11.  This  is  the  personal  call  with  which  the  com- 
mission of  Moses  begins.  Draw  not  nigh.  Do  not  intrude  with  daring  heedlessness 
into  the  sacred  presence  of  the  divine  majesty.  Put  off  thy  shoes.  The  custom  of  put- 
ting off  the  shoes  before  entering  an  apartment,  lest  they  sl\puld  defile  the  floor,  passed 
in  the  East  into  a  mark  of  respect,  and  then  of  reverence.  Hence  it  becomes  a  habit- 
ual outward  sign  of  an  inward  feeling  of  regard  for  the  place  and  presence  of  a 
superior,  or  of  the  Supreme. 

6-10.  This  passage  closes  with  the  commission  to  Moses.     After  the  premonitory 


EXODUS  III.   7-12.  29 

sentence  comes  tlie  introduction.  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father.  "  Thy  father"  is  here 
used  in  a  generic  sense,  to  denote  any  ancestor  from  his  immediate  father  up.  The 
nations  of  the  earth  had  now  almost  universally  forsaken  the  God  of  their  first  father, 
the  knowledge  of  whom  had  been  clearly  handed  down  to  them  by  Noah,  and  betaken 
themselves  to  other  gods,  whom  their  fathers  knew  not,  and  who  were  no  gods. 
Moses  is  here  reminded  of  his  holy  ancestry,  and  apprised  that  he  who  now  addresses 
him  is  the  Great  Being  who  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  created  man  after  his  own 
image.  But  more  particularly  he  is  also  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  who 
entered  into  a  special  covenant  of  salvation  with  the  fathers  of  Israel,  by  means  of 
which  the  primeval  covenant  with  man  may  be  upheld,  and  all  the  Gentiles  reconciled 
to  God.  Hid  his  face.  The  unexpected  utterance  of  his  name,  the  caution  against  too 
near  an  approach,  the  announcement  of  the  divine  presence,  awakened  a  solemn  awe 
in  the  mind  of  Moses,  which  discovered  itself  in  hiding  his  face,  lest  he  should  be 
guilty  of  any  profane  gazing  upon  the  apparition  of  the  Holy  One  (Gen.  16  :  13). 

7-10.  After  the  introduction  we  have  the  commission.  The  preamble  recounts  the 
cause  which  moved  the  Lord  to  the  present  interposition.  /  have  surely  seen.  I  have 
been  deeply  concerned  to  observe  the  affliction  of  my  people.  For  IJcnow  their  sorrow. 
The  for  here  is  explanatory.  I  have  not  been  inattentive  to  them,  I  have  been  cogni- 
zant of  all  that  was  taking  place,  and  therefore  I  have  seen  and  heard  everything.  I 
came  down  (Gen.  11  :  5).  God  is  personally  interested  and  active  in  his  people's  cause. 
A  good  and  large  land,  not  inferior  to  Goshen  in  point  of  fertility,  and  affording  scope 
for  a  growing  population.  A  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  a  proverbial  description 
of  a  choice  land  abounding  in  the  grasses  and  flowering  plants  from  which  milk  and 
honey  come.  2  he  place  of  the  Kenaanite.  The  Kenaanite  and  his  derivative  tribes 
originally  amounted  to  twelve  (Gen.  10  :  15-18).  In  the  time  of  Abraham  ten  tribes 
occupied  the  land  of  promise,  of  which  only  five  are  known  to  be  descendants  of 
Kenaan  (Gen.  15  :  19-21).  Of  the  six  here  enumerated,  history  traces  five  to  Kenaan. 
Of  the  former  list  the  Girgashite  has  now  retired  into  obscurity,  and  the  Hivite  has 
recovered  a  prominent  position.  Of  those  not  traceable  to  Kenaan  only  the  Perizzite 
is  mentioned.    The  others  were  probably  beyond  the  boundary  at  present  contemplated. 

9,  10.  And  now,  behold  the  cry  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  It  is  noticeable  that  their  oppres- 
sion had  lasted  for  eighty  years.  But  now  at  length  their  cry  indicated  that  affliction 
had  done  its  work.  In  the  anguish  of  their  hearts  they  turned  from  man  to  God. 
They  longed  to  be  free  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  and  they  now  saw  no  hope  of 
escape  but  in  God.  Their  cry  goes  up  to  heaven,  and  God  appears  on  earth  for  their 
deliverance.  1  will  send  thee  unto  Pharoh.  The  purpose  of  the  vision  now  unfolds 
itself  to  the  mind  of  Moses. 

11,  12.  Moses  puts  in  many  pleas  to  be  excused  from  this  grave  task.  The  Lord 
patiently  and  encouragingly  hears  all  these  scruples  of  his  creature's  mind,  gives  a 
satisfactory  explanation,  and  api)lies  a  complete  remedy  to  every  difficulty,  until  there 
is  nothing  in  the  mind  of  Moses  but  an  unreasonable  shrinking  from  an  arduous  and 
honorable  task.  Even  then  he  provides  a  full  relief  for  the  trembling  heart  in  the 
eloquence  and  company  of  his  brother  Aaron.  Thus  gradually  and  tenderly  he  pre- 
pares the  mind  of  his  servant  for  acquiescing  in,  and  then  heartily  devoting  himself 
to,  the  high  office  to  which  he  is  called.* 

*  It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  change  In  the  temper  of  Moses,  as  shown  in  ch.  2  :  11-14,  as  inter- 
preted by  Stephen,  Acts  7  :  25.  Had  the  life  of  the  wilderness  made  him  less  trustful  of  self  ?  Did  he 
need  to  be  thus  stripped  of  all  reliance  on  human  resources  that  he  might  lean  only  on  the  Lord  ?— J.H. 


30  MOSES    CALLED. 

The  first  p'ea  is  Ms  personal  iinwortliiness.  Wlio  am  I?  He  remembered  the 
grandeur  of  the  court  and  the  haughtiness  of  the  monarch.  He  was  aware  that  the 
present  sovereign  was  a  stranger  to  him.  He  called  to  mind  the  rude  reception  he  had 
met  from  one  of  his  own  kinsmen,  when  he  formerly  interfered  in  their  behalf.  All 
the  difi&culties  of  the  enterprise  crowded  on  his  mind,  and  he  felt  himself  inadequate 
to  its  achievement.  For  I  loill  he  with  thee.  The  Lord  is  not  moved  from  his  purpose  by 
the  objection  of  Moses.  He  obviates  it  by  an  undeniable  argument.  I  will  be  with 
thee.  The  power  of  God  with  us  certainly  surmounts  all  difficulties.  This  promise 
will  hereafter  be  embodied  in  a  name,  Immanuel — God  with  us.  Here  it  is  framed  in 
a  sentence  importing  the  active  presence  of  the  Almighty  with  his  chosen  servant. 
This  has  been  the  source  of  the  church's  life,  strength,  and  hope  in  all  ages.  This 
shall  he  the  token.  To  find  himself  and  the  rest  of  Israel  serving  God  on  this  mountain 
will  hereafter  be  to  him  a  proof  of  his  divine  commission,  and  the  assurance  of  this 
fact,  which  will  undoubtedly  follow  the  promise  now  given,  is  calculated  to  encourage 
him  to  undertake  the  task  with  cheerfulness  and  hope. 

13,  14.  Moses  now  starts  a  difficulty  he  might  have  with  the  people.  They  might 
ask  him  what  is  the  name  of  him  from  whom  he  came.  It  is  important  to  determine 
the  real  bearing  of  this  question.  (1.)  We  have  repeatedly  met  with  the  custom  in 
early  times  of  giving  several  names  to  the  same  individual,  as  Jacob  and  Israel,  Esau 
and  Edom,  Keuel  and  Jethro.  This  was  not  even  peculiar  to  the  East.  Paris  and 
Alexander,  Lucumo  and  Tarquinius,  Henry  and  Beauclerc,  are  familiar  to  us  in  other 
lands.  The  reason  of  this  custom  was  that  names  were  then  significant,  and  served  to 
mark  out  the  individual  by  some  peculiarity  in  his  person,  some  trait  in  his  character, 
or  some  event  connected  with  his  history.  If  several  of  these  circumstances  might 
occur  in  the  case  of  a  finite  man,  how  much  more  may  we  expect  them  to  come  out  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  infinite  God.  Accordingly,  among  a  primitive  people,  his 
names  grow  in  number  as  the  manifold  aspects  of  his  all-perfect  character  break  upon 
their  view.  He  is  called  Elohim,  the  Everlasting,  when  his  antecedent  eternity  and 
absolute  independence  are  contemplated.  He  is  termed  Jehovah,  the  Self-existent,  the 
Author  of  all  existing  things,  when  he  is  regarded  as  the  free  and  personal  God,  mani- 
festing his  being  to  the  intelligent  universe  by  the  works  of  his  creative  power.  He  is 
named  El '  Elion,  the  Most  High  God,  when  his  unattainable  pre-eminence  above  all 
created  things  comes  into  view.  He  is  designated  El  Shaddai,  the  Almighty  God,  when 
he  wishes  to  set  before  the  mind  his  unconquerable  omnipotence.  (2.)  In  the  next 
place,  Moses  did  not  require  to  ask  the  name  of  God,  if  we  mean  by  that  the  term  by 
which  he  was  commonly  known.  He  was  already  familiar  with  his  name.  If  the 
Book  of  Genesis  was  not  yet  before  him  in  a  written  form,  the  traditions  of  his  fathers 
were  graven  on  his  memory.  Moreover,  God  had  already  announced  himself  to  him 
as  the  God  of  his  fathers.  And,  further,  God  does  not  present  in  his  reply  any  one  of 
all  the  names  by  which  he  had  been  previously  known.  Hence  it  is  plain  that  the 
object  of  Moses  in  putting  this  question  could  not  have  been  to  ascertain  any  of 
the  former  names  of  God.  (3.)  The  name  in  the  conception  of  Moses  was  the  title 
by  which  the  present  aspect  of  God  to  his  people  was  to  be  designated.  And  the 
meaning  of  his  question  is,  What  is  the  principle  of  thy  being  or  movement  of  thy 
will  which  is  now  to  display  itself  to  thy  people  ? 

The  Lord  is  prompt  in  meeting  this  new  difficulty  of  Moses.  The  immediate 
answer  to  his  question  is  a  new  name,  in  some  respect  different  in  meaning  from  all 
his  former  designations.     Ehjeh  (Ehyeh),  I  am,  in  the  sense  I  now  proceed  to  make 


EXODUS  III.   15-22.  31 

myself  known  to  he,  by  giving  being  to  my  promise  to  Abraham  of  more  than  four 
hundred  years'  standing.  Although  the  phrase  I  am  does  not  immediately  convey  all 
this  to  English  ears,  yet  it  is  so  brief  and  appropriate  in  its  general  sense,  and  so  hal- 
lowed in  our  associations,  that  we  would  not  venture  to  alter  it.  And  even  in  this 
simple  form,  when  coupled  with  a  promise  of  deliverance  such  as  Moses  was  com- 
missioned to  announce,  it  suggests  the  thought  that  his  people  will  soon  find  that  he 
is  by  the  acts  he  performs.  Still  further,  it  is  probable  that  the  present  tense  of  our 
English  verb  originally  meant,  and  it  is  certain  that  it  still  retains  among  its  mean- 
ings, the  initial  stage  of  an  action  or  event,  as  in  the  phrase,  I  go  to  town.  It  is, 
therefore,  the  only  form  fit  to  express  the  Hebrew  incipient.  The  use  of  the  first 
person  is  a  plain  indication  that  the  name  is  intended  not  merely  to  distinguish  an 
individual,  but  to  express  a  sentiment  that  will  animate  the  people  with  hope  and 
resolution.  Such  a  form  is  strictly  appropriate  only  in  the  mouth  of  the  speaker  ; 
and,  accordingly,  it  is  not  afterward  employed  as  a  name  of  God.  All  this  is  in  keep- 
ing, not  with  a  mere  name,  but  with  a  word  of  moral  power  fitted  to  stir  the  heart, 
and  meet  the  present  occasion. 

Moses  was  now,  therefore,  armed  with  a  name  of  potent  significance  by  which  to 
designate  him  by  whose  authority  he  was  to  approach  the  people.  He  could  say,  He 
in  whose  name  I  come  is  about  to  realize  the  promise  of  the  land  of  Kenaan  made  to 
the  seed  of  Abraham  ;  and  he  has  deigned  to  embody  this  fact  in  a  significant  name, 
indicating  his  present  adherence  to  his  covenant  with  your  fathers. 

]5-22.  Special  directions  are  now  given  to  Moses  regarding  his  commission.  First, 
the  authority  under  which  he  acts  is  formally  stated.  The  Lord,  that  is,  Jehovah, 
We  have  already  discussed  the  import  of  this  name  (Gen.  2:4).  It  stands  in  rela- 
tion to  Ehjeh,  as  a  habit  of  the  active  powers  is  to  a  particular  volition,  Jehovah  is 
the  author  of  reality  in  general  ;  Ehjeh  is  he  who  is  on  the  point  of  giving  reality  to  a 
certain  thing  or  event.  The  two  names  then  refer  to  the  same  attribute  of  the  divine 
nature,  but  in  different  points  of  view  ;  the  one  presenting  it  as  a  potence  in  habitual 
exercise  ;  the  other  as  a  potence  passing  into  a  new  course  of  action.  Hence  we  can 
understand  how  the  Lord,  after  announcing  himself  to  Moses  by  a  new  form  of  appel- 
lation, fitted  to  the  special  occasion,  immediately  reverts  to  the  well-known  and  long- 
established  name  which  involves  the  same  property  of  his  nature.  In  accordance 
with  this  identity  of  the  quality  signified  by  the  two  names,  it  is  fitly  added,  "  This 
is  my  name  forever,  and  this  my  memorial  unto  all  generations."  The  name  refers  to 
the  objective  and  sensible  sign  ;  the  memorial  to  the  subjective  and  mental  concept  of 
the  Divine  Being,  He  that  gives  effect  to  his  uttered  resolve  is  the  author  of  eternal 
life  to  his  chui'ch, 

16,  17.  Next,  the  course  he  is  to  pursue  with  regard  to  the  people  of  God  is  pointed 
out.  Gather  the  elders  of  Israel.  Officers  of  this  class  were  common  to  all  mankind  in 
primeval  times.  "We  have  already  met  with  them  in  Egypt  (Gen.  50  :  7).  We  here  find 
them  established  in  Israel  antecedent  to  the  legislation  of  Moses.  Their  name  is 
derived  from  the  quality  of  age,  which  confers  experience  and  claims  authority.  They 
were  perpetuated  through  all  the  variations  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and 
descended  from  them  to  the  Christian  church,  in  which  they  still  maintain  their 
place.  /  have  surely  visited  you,  personally  come  to  see  you,  and  all  that  is  done  to  you, 
in  order  to  take  the  proper  steps  for  your  deliverance. 

18.  The  manner  in  which  he  is  to  approach  the  king  of  Egypt  is  next  laid  down. 
They  shall  hearken  to  thy  voice.     They  have  been  chastened  by  the  oppression  of  Egypt, 


32  ■  MOSES    CALLED. 

and  will  now  listen  gladly  to  a  duly  accredited  deliverer.  Thus  far  Moses  will  find  his 
reception  encouraging.  Thou  and  the  elders  of  Israel.  A  venerable  deputation  of  the 
heads  of  the  people  are  to  accompany  Moses  to  Pharoh.  Jehovah,  the  God  of  the 
Hebreios.  To  Israel  this  epithet  of  Jehovah  would  be  encouraging  ;  to  Pharoh  it  is 
merely  explanatory.  We  learn  from  it  that  the  Shemites  of  the  line  of  Heber 
continued  to  acknowledge  the  true  God  after  the  other  nations  had  forsaken  him. 
In  other  words,  the  revelation  of  God  made  to  the  common  fathers  of  the  human 
race  remained  in  its  purity  among  the  Hebrews  after  it  had  been  essentially  corrupted 
among  the  other  nations  of  the  earth.  It  is  plainly  implied  that  the  gods  of  Egypt 
were  now  essentially  different  from  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  as  will  presently  appear 
in  the  most  conspicuous  manner.  Hath  met  with  us,  with  Moses  in  the  bush  at  Horeb, 
and  with  us  in  the  signs  he  has  wrought  through  him  before  us  (vs.  30).  Let  us  go 
three  days'  journey  in  the  loilderness.  This  request  seems  at  first  to  be  put  in  a  politic 
form,  as  if  to  secure  a  favorable  answer.  This,  however,  was  quite  unnecessary,  since 
the  Almighty  was  about  to  bring  his  people  out  of  Egypt  by  a  strong  hand.  It  is 
merely  expressed  in  a  style  of  reserve  and  moderation.  It  was  not  requisite  to  reveal 
to  Pharoh,  who  was  in  a  hostile  mood,  all  the  intentions  of  God  concerning  his  peo- 
ple. Hence  Pharoh  is  merely  informed  that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  has  met  with 
them  ;  and  their  request  is  limited  to  the  first  step  to  be  taken  in  obedience  to  his 
will.  A  three  days'  journey  is  mentioned,  simply  because  this  would  take  them  clear 
out  of  Egypt,  one  day  being  employed  in  setting  out,  one  in  marching,  and  the  third 
in  coming  to  a  resting-place.  And  a  sacrifice  is  added,  because  this  is  the  first  act  of 
obedience.  The  former  involves  their  departure  out  of  Egypt  ;  the  latter  commences 
the  perfect  service  of  God.  This  is  exactly  the  mode  in  which  God  trains  his  people. 
The  immediate  duty  and  the  immediate  blessing  are  set  before  them,  and  these  are 
pregnant  with  all  further  and  higher  duties  and  blessing.  So  he  deals  with  Pharoh. 
But  there  is  not  only  reserve,  but  moderation  in  the  request.  It  makes  the  smallest 
demand  consistent  with  actually  leaving,  and  assigns  the  highest  reason  for  taking 
this  step,  namely,  the  command  of  God.  By  sedulously  avoiding  everything  harsh 
and  extravagant  in  its  terms,  it  affords  the  least  possible  occasion  for  Pharoh  to 
harden  his  heart,  and  dismiss  the  petitioners  with  an  obstinate  refusal.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  a  bold  and  open  assertion  of  liberty.  If  the  people  had  formed  a  secret  jDlot 
to  escape  from  the  land  of  their  bondage,  we  should  have  been  slow  to  condemn,  if 
not  prompt  to  applaud.  But  this  is  not  the  Lord's  way.  If  Pharoh  had  condescended 
to  ask  at  once,  "  Who  shall  go  ?  Will  your  wives  and  children  go  ?  Will  your  cattle 
and  your  other  movables  be  taken  with  you  ?"  he  would  have  received,  as  he  event- 
ually did,  a  ready  and  candid  reply.  But  such  questions  were  in  reality  superfluous. 
Pharoh  was  well  aware  that  Dondsmen  who  had  marched  three  days  out  of  the  land 
of  the  oppressor,  with  their  families  and  goods,  would  not  return  without  compulsion. 

19,  20.  Moses  is  further  forewarned  of  the  unwillingness  of  Pharoh  to  grant  the 
request  of  the  people,  and  of  the  means  by  which  this  unwillingness  is  to  be  over- 
come. And  1  knoio.  Foreknowledge  is  as  certain  to  God  as  after-knowledge.  But 
by  a  mighty  hand,  the  hand  of  God  doing  his  wonders  in  the  land  of  Ham.  The  ser- 
vant of  the  Lord  is  therefore  not  to  be  discouraged  by  the  unavailing  opposition  of 
Pharoh. 

21,  22.  The  Israelites  are  not  to  go  out  empty-handed.  The  sojourn  of  Joseph  in 
Egypt  as  a  bond-slave  had  been  the  means  of  preserving  the  inhabitants  of  that  coun- 
try from  extermination  by  a  seven  years'  famine.     The  residence  of  his  kindred  in 


EX0DU3   IV.  33 

Goshen  had  always  been  a  benefit,  and  not  a  burden,  to  Egypt.  And  for  the  last  two 
or  three  generations  the  Israelites  had  been  bond-slaves,  toiling  for  the  prosperity 
and  aggrandizement  of  the  nation.  They  had,  therefore,  an  undoubted  right  to  ask, 
and  the  Egyptians  were  eventually  glad  to  give  them,  some  aid  for  their  journey. 
Shall  ask,  as  a  gift,  if  not  a  compensation  for  long  unrequited  services.  The  word 
cannot  mean  to  borrow  here,  when  the  Egyptians  were  perfectly  aware  that  the  Israel- 
ites would  not  return.  Of  her  that  sojourneth  in  her  house,  either  a  visitor  or  a  mistress 
whom  she  served,  in  any  case  her  superior,  and  perhaps  owner.  Spoil  Mizraim.  The 
Egyptians  would  be  so  overcome  by  abject  distress  as  to  be  ready  to  part  with  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  their  wealth,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  a  people  whose  presence  men- 
aced them  with  utter  extermination. 

CHAP.  IV. — MOSES  OBEYS  THE  CALL. 

14.  jnnK  A^haron,  perhaps  height  or  tall;  r.  perhaps  akin  to  -i*i"{>^  light,  or-],-; 
Mil 

18.  "^pi  =  'inn*'-  "^^^^  latter  is  the  reading  of  one  ms.  of  the  Sam.,  Syr.,  Vulg., 
and  Arabic.  The  former,  of  the  other  mss.  and  of  the  Sept.  ;  of  the  latter  in 
both  parts  of  the  verse.     It  seems  an  instance  of  diversity  of  language. 

IV.  1.  And  Moses  answered  and  said,  But  behold  they  will  not  believe  me,  nor 
hearken  unto  my  voice  :  for  they  will  say,  The  Lord  hath  not  appeared  unto  thee, 
2.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him.  What  is  this  in  thy  hand  ?  And  he  said,  A  rod.  3. 
And  he  said,  Cast  it  on  the  ground.  And  he  cast  it  on  the  ground,  and  it  became  a 
serpent  ;  and  Moses  fled  from  before  it.  4.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Put  forth 
thy  hand,  and  catch  it  by  the  tail.  And  he  put  forth  his  hand  and  seized  it,  and  it 
became  a  rod  in  his  hand.  5.  That  they  may  believe  that  the  Lord,  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  appeared 
unto  thee.  6.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him  again,  Put  now  thy  hand  into  thy  bosom. 
And  he  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom  :  and  he  took  it  out,  and  lo  his  hand  was  leprous 
as  snow.  7.  And  he  said,  Put  thy  hand  again  into  thy  bosom.  And  he  put  his  hand 
again  into  his  bosom  ;  and  he  took  it  out  of  his  bosom,  and  behold  it  was  restored  as 
his  other  flesh.  8.  And  it  shall  be,  if  they  will  not  believe  thee,  nor  hearken  to  the 
voice  of  the  first  sign,  that  they  will  believe  the  voice  of  the  latter  sign.  9.  And  it 
shall  be,  if  they  will  not  believe  even  these  two  signs,  nor  hearken  unto  thy  voice,  that 
thou  shalt  take  of  the  water  of  the  river,  and  pour  on  the  dry  land  :  and  the  water 
which  thou  takest  out  of  the  river  shall  become  blood  upon  the  dry  land. 

10.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord,  O  Lord,  I  am  not  eloquent,  neither  heretofore, 
nor  since  thou  hast  spoken  unto  thy  servant  ;  for  I  am  slow  of  mouth  and  slow  of 
tongue.  11.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him.  Who  hath  made  man's  mouth,  or  who 
maketh  dimib  or  deaf,  or  seeing  or  blind  ?  Do  not  I  the  Lord  ?  12.  And  now  go.  and 
I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  speak.  13.  And  he  said,  O 
Lord,  send  now  by  whomsoever  thou  wilt  send.  14.  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was 
kindled  against  Moses  ;  and  he  said.  Is  there  not  Aaron,  thy  brother,  the  Levite  ?  I 
know  that  he  can  speak  well  :  and  also  behold  he  cometh  forth  to  meet  thee,  and  he 
shall  see  thee,  and  be  glad  in  his  heart.  15.  And  thou  shalt  speak  to  him,  and  put 
words  in  his  mouth  ;  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth  and  with  his  mouth,  and  will 
teach  you  what  ye  shall  do.  16.  And  he  shall  speak  for  thee  to  the  people,  and  it 
shall  be  that  he  shall  be  to  thee  for  a  mouth,  and  thou  shalt  be  to  him  for  God.  17. 
And  this  rod  shalt  thou  take  in  thy  hand,  wherewith  thou  shalt  do  the  signs.  IT  4. 

18.  And  Moses  went  and  returned  to  Jether  his  father-in-law,  and°sai^  to  him, 
Let  me  go  now  and  return  to  my  brethren  who  are  in  Mizraim,  and  see  whether  they 
be  yet  alive.     And  Jethro  said  unto  Moses,  Go  in  peace. 

19.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  in  Midian,  Go,  return  to  Mizraim,  for  all  the 
men  who  sought  thy  life  are  dead.     20.  And  Moses  took  his  wife  and  his  sons-,  and 


34  MOSES  OBEYS  THE  CALL. 

set  them  upon  tlie  ass,  and  returned  to  the  land  of  Mizraim  :  and  Moses  took  the  rod 
of  God  in  his  hand. 

21.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  When  thou  goest  to  return  into  Mizraim,  be- 
hold all  the  wonders  that  1  have  put  in  thy  hand,  and  do  them  before  Pharoh  ;  and 
I  will  harden  his  heart,  and  he  shall  not  let  the  people  go.  22.  Then  thou  shalt  say 
unto  Pharoh,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Israel  is  my  son,  my  first-born.  23.  And  I  said 
unto  thee,  Let  my  son  go,  and  serve  me,  and  thou  didst  refuse  to  let  him  go  :  behold, 
I  will  slay  thy  son,  thy  first-born. 

24.  And  it  came  to  pass  by  the  way  in  the  inn,  that  the  Lord  met  him,  and  sought 
to  kill  him.  25.  And  Zipporah  took  a  sharp  stone,  and  cut  off  the  foreskin  of  her 
son,  and  cast  it  at  his  feet  :  and  she  said.  For  a  spouse  of  blood  art  thou  to  me.  26. 
And  he  left  him  :  then  she  said,  A  spouse  of  blood,  because  of  the  circumcision.     IT  5. 

27.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Aaron,  Go  to  meet  Moses  in  the  wilderness.  And  he  went 
and  met  him  in  the  mount  of  God,  and  kissed  him.  28.  And  Moses  told  Aaron  all 
the  words  of  the  Lord  who  had  sent  him,  and  all  the  signs  which  he  had  commanded 
him.  29.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went,  and  gathered  all  the  elders  of  the  sons  of  Israel. 
30.  And  Aaron  spake  all  the  words  which  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  Moses  ;  and  did 
the  signs  in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  31.  And  the  people  believed  ;  and  they  heard  that 
the  Lord  had  visited  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  that  he  had  looked  on  their  affliction  ; 
and  they  bent  their  heads  and  bowed  themselves  down. 

The  Lord  here  obviates  all  the  remaining  difficulties  of  Moses,  who  then  obtains 
leave  of  Jethro  to  return  to  Egypt  (vs.  1-18).  Setting  out  on  his  journey,  he  is  met 
by  Aaron,  and  on  his  arrival  is  well  received  by  the  people  (vs.  19-31). 

1-9.  The  third  plea  of  Moses  is  the  incredulity  of  the  peo]3le.  There  is  no  manifes- 
tation of  God  to  Israel  on  record  since  he  appeared  to  Jacob  on  the  way  to  Egypt 
(Gen.  46  : 2)  ;  and  this  was  two  hundred  and  ten  years  ago.  And  Moses  had  now 
been  in  exile  forty  years,  and  would  be  a  comparative  stranger  to  most  of  his  nation. 
The  Lord  meets  this  plea  by  supplying  him  with  credentials  that  could  not  be  gain- 
said. These  are  in  the  form  of  certain  supernatural  wonders,  of  which  the  Lord  now 
exhibits  two  in  the  sight  of  Moses  for  the  confirmation  of  his  own  faith,  and  directs 
that  along  with  these  a  third  should  be  performed  in  'Egypt  to  demonstrate  to  the 
people  and  to  Pharoh  that  he  was  an  ambassador  from  the  God  of  the  Hebrews.  It 
has  been  generally  felt  that  these  wonders  must  have  been  selected  with  a  due  regard 
to  the  occasion,  and  are,  therefore,  not  only  miracles  attesting  a  divine  message,  but 
signs  shadowing  forth  pertinent  truths  to  all  the  j)arties  concerned.  The  early  mind 
"v^as  peculiarly  open  to  the  figurative  method  of  instruction.  The  hieroglyphic  mode 
of  writing  was  a  most  ingenious  and  elaborate  application  of  symbols  to  the  use  of 
recording  events. 

2-5.  The  first  sign  given  to  Moses  contains  a  plain  allusion  to  his  change  of  office. 
A  rod.  This  is  the  instrument  and  symbol  of  his  present  condition — the  shepherd's 
crook.  Cast  it  on  the  ground,  an  act  symbolic  of  his  abandonment  of  that  condition. 
It  became  a  serpent,  a  dangerous  and  formidable  creature,  from  which  Moses  fled. 
There  is  no  distant  allusion  here  to  the  repugnance  of  Moses  to  the  new  office  which 
was  proposed  to  him.  The  serpent,  moreover,  was  the  ostensible  tempter  and  traitor 
in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  therefore  the  representative  of  the  author  and  abettor  of 
evil.  And  in  particular  the  asp,  a  kind  of  serpent,  played  a  conspicuous  part  in 
Egyptian  mythology.  It  was  the  emblem  of  the  goddess  Kanno,  the  snake  of  Neioh, 
the  hieroglyphic  of  "goddess,"  and  the  sign  of  royalty.  From  this  last  use  it  was 
called  Uraeus,  from  ouro,  king,  and  jSaaiTiiaKoS,  royal  (Eawlinson's  Herod,  ii.  105). 
Egypt  was,  therefore,  not  obscurely  pointed  out  as  the  adversary  of  God  and  his  peo- 
ple at  this  time.     Moses  shrunk  from  grappling  with  this  hostile  power.     Put  forth  thy 


EXODUS    lY.     6-17.  do 

hand  and  catch  it.  This  indicates  Moses's  reluctant  acceptance  of  liis  new  office.  // 
became  a  rod  iji  his  hand.  What  was  formidable  to  weak  faith  and  hesitating  obedi- 
ence became  a  rod  of  power  as  soon  as  the  decisive  act  was  performed.  The  shep- 
herd's rod  is  now  the  rod  of  God,  with  which  he  is  to  conduct  the  people  of  God  from 
Egypt  to  the  promised  land.  That  they  may  believe.  Moses  is  empowered  to  perform 
this  miracle  before  the  people,  that  they  may  believe  his  divine  mission.  Hence  it 
appears  that  one  end  of  a  miracle  is  to  authenticate  a  divine  communication  and  be 
a  warrant  to  faith. 

6-8.  The  second  sign  points  to  a  renewal  of  nature  in  Moses  and  the 
people.  Put  now  thy  hand  into  thy  bosom.  The  hand  is  the  emblem  of  power. 
The  putting  of  it  into  the  bosom  is  merely  the  withdrawing  of  it  from  action 
into  rest  and  security.  Taking  it  out  is  preparing  to  resume  activitj''.  Leprous 
as  snow.  Leprosy  is  a  loathsome  'disease  of  the  skin  prevailing  in  Egypt  and 
the  southern  parts  of  Asia.  It  appears  in  spots  on  different  parts  of  the  body,  which 
sometimes  become  confluent  and  cover  the  whole  body.  It  is  called  white  from  the 
color  assumed  by  the  part  affected  and  the  hair  that  grows  on  it.  Hence  the  phrase, 
"  leprous  as  snow."  It  is  distinguished  as  Lepra  Mosaica,  from  the  notice  taken  of  it 
by  Moses  in  his  legislation  (Lev.  13  :  14).  The  leprosy  is  not  employed  in  Scripture 
as  a  figure  for  sin  as  an  act  or  habit.  But  the  leper  is  declared  unclean  ;  and  moral 
uncleanness  is  the  consequence  of  such  sin.  The  hand  of  Moses,  when  brought  out 
for  action,  is  found  to  be  leprous— not  impotent,  as  in  paralysis,  but  defiled,  and  defil- 
ing whatever  it  touches.  This  is  a  striking  figure  of  the  unclean  or  unhallowed  power 
of  fallen  man,  which  works  evil  and  not  good.  It  is  tj^pical  of  the  old  man  in  Moses 
and  in  Israel,  especially  now  when  they  are  contaminated  with  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  idolatrous  Egypt.  Pid  thy  hand  again  into  thy  bosom.  On  drawing  it  forth 
from  the  bosom  it  is  now  found  to  be  restored  as  the  healthy  flesh.  The  degenerate 
power  of  Moses  was  unfit  for  the  work  of  God.  Its  sanctification  is  represented  by 
the  restoration  of  the  leprous  hand.  And  as  Moses  is  consecrated  to  the  task  of  lead- 
ing the  people  out  of  Egypt,  so  are  they  to  be  consecrated  to  the  Lord  as  a  chosen 
generation  to  show  forth  his  praise  and  accomplish  his  purpose.  The  voice  of  the  first 
sign.  By  a  beautiful  figure  these  signs  are  described  as  having  a  voice,  because  they 
speak  to  the  people  of  the  presence  and  power  of  God  with  his  messenger. 

9.  This  sign  evidently  refers  to  Egypt.  The  Nile  was  venerated  as  a  divinity,  under 
the  name  of  Hapi — cognate,  if  not  identical,  with  Apis.  Its  waters  were  therefore  re- 
garded as  sacred,  and  highly  esteemed  as  salubrious  to  the  drinker  and  fertilizing  to 
the  soil.  To  change  these  waters  into  blood  shed  on  the  ground  is  to  turn  the  stream 
of  life  into  a  pool  of  death.  It  speaks  of  disaster  and  death  to  Egypt  and  its  gods. 
He  that  has  power  over  the  deified  Nile  may  defy  all  the  might  of  Pharoh.  He  is  ac- 
credited as  the  minister  of  God,  called  to  his  office,  qualified  for  his  holy  task,  and 
armed  with  miraculous  powers  for  the  discomfiture  of  Egypt  by  the  Lord,  the  most 
high  God,  founder  of  heaven  and  earth. 

10-17,  Moses  comprehends  all  that  is  implied  in  this  last  sign,  stands  aghast  at  the 
deadly  encounter  with  the  powers  of  Egypt,  and  urges  a  fourth  plea.  lam  not  eloquent, 
a  man  of  words,  competent  to  lay  before  the  mind  of  Pharoh  the  awful  alternative  of 
concession  or  compulsion.  His  powers  of  persuasion  had  not  prevailed  with  his  own 
countrymen.  His  present  interview  with  the  Almightj'-  had  not  increased  them,  and 
he  could  not  expect  to  maintain  the  argument  worthily  in  this  great  cause  before  the 
haughty  monarch  of  Egypt.      11.    Who  hath  made  man's  mouth  ?    The  Lord  is  still 


S6  MOSES    OBEYS   THE    CALL. 

patient  with  Moses,  and  meets  his  objection  witli  an  unanswerable  rejoinder.  In  a 
series  of  interrogatories  it  is  intimated  that  the  Lord  is  an  infallible  judge  of  what 
amount  of  natural  eloquence  is  requisite  for  the  occasion,  and  is  able  and  sure  to 
supply  the  deficiency,  if  any  such  exist.  12.  I  will  he  with  thy  mouth.  Here  the 
requisite  aid  is  expressly  promised.  13.  Notwithstanding  this  assuring  reply,  Moses 
prays  the  Lord  to  confer  this  honor  on  any  other  than  himself.  14-17.  This  rather 
hasty  and  impatient  expression  of  unwillingness  provokes  the  Lord  to  anger.  Yet, 
as  this  backwardness  arose  not  from  any  unworthy  motive,  but  from  an  absence  of 
ambition,  a  love  of  retirement,  or  a  deej)  feeling  of  humility,  the  Lord  does  not  turn 
away  from  his  purpose,  but  with  a  gentle  firmness  acquaints  him  with  another  relief 
he  has  provided  for  his  slowness  of  speech.  Aa7^on,  thy  brother,  the  Levite.  This  is 
put  first,  as  the  prominent  object  of  thought.  The  words  in  apposition  with  Aaron 
are  merely  intended  to  designate  him  fully,  according  to  the  Hebrew  manner.  He  is 
of  the  same  parents  and  tribe  as  Moses,  and  therefore  suitable  as  an  associate  in  this 
arduous  undertaking.  And  though  he  was  the  elder  brother,  yet  the  Lord  assures 
Moses  that  he  will  be  glad  to  see  him,  and  of  course  act  under  him.  Thou  shalt  speak 
to  him.  Moses  is  to  perform  the  higher  part  still,  even  in  speaking,  namely,  to  dictate 
the  words  which  Aaron  is  to  utter.  The  promise  of  divine  aid  is  accordingly  reiterated 
and  extended  to  both.  He  shall  speak  for  thee  to  the  people.  We  leam  from  this  that 
God  does  not  needlessly  alter  the  natural  qualities  of  his  highest  servants.  The  char- 
acteristics of  mind  and  will  in  the  individual,  though  dedicated  and  adapted  to  a  holy 
use,  are  still  allowed  to  remain,  and  to  peejD  out  in  all  his  sayings  and  doings.  And 
thou  shalt  he  to  him  for  God.  The  figure  here  is  as  bold  as  it  is  expressive.  What  God 
is  to  Moses,  that  Moses  is  to  Aaron  in  regard  to  the  matter  and  the  authority  of  his 
message.  What  Moses  is  to  God,  that  Aaron  is  to  be  to  Moses  in  regard  to  the  de- 
livery of  it.  And  this  rod.  This  wand  of  authority  he  recalls  to  the  mind  of  Moses  as 
another  source  of  encouragement.  Wherewith  thou  shalt  do  the  signs.  This  staff  was  to 
be  always  with  him  as  the  badge  of  his  office,  if  not  the  instrument  of  operation. 

18-26.  All  his  fears  and  scruples  being  at  length  overcome,  Moses  prepares  for  en- 
tering on  his  office.  Jether  here  is  Jethro  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  verse.  We 
may  learn  from  this  that  a  mere  variation  in  the  orthography  of  a  proper  name  may 
indicate  a  variety  in  pronunciation,  and  not  a  deviation  from  the  autograph  of  the 
author.  Let  me  go  now.  Moses  asks  leave  of  his  father-in-law  to  depart.  Not  only 
common  courtesy,  but  the  benefits  he  had  received  from  Jethro  demand  this.  See 
whether  they  he  yet  alive.  The  private  ends  he  had  in  view  he  is  at  liberty  to  disclose  to 
Jethro.  Other  reasons  it  was  not  necessary  to  state,  to  warrant  his  departure.  Jethro 
is  just,  as  well  as  generous,  and  bids  him  go  in  peace. 

19,  20.  In  Midian.  This  implies  that  the  mount  of  God,  west  of  the  wilderness, 
where  Moses  saw  the  burning  bush,  was  not  in  Midian.  For  all  the  men  who  sought  thy 
life  are  dead.  The  present  communication  has  reference,  not  to  the  heavenly  mission 
of  Moses,  but  to  his  personal  relations  with  Egypt.  The  cause  of  flight  from  his  kin- 
dred was  the  vengeance  of  the  king  and  the  kinsmen  of  him  whom  he  had  slain.  They 
were  now  dead,  and  he  was  at  liberty  to  return.  The  higher  reasons  for  his  return 
did  not  at  present  concern  the  Midianites,  His  sons.  Though  the  birth  of  only  one 
son  has  been  recorded,  yet  we  know  from  the  subsequent  narrative  (Ex.  18  : 4)  that  a 
second  son  was  born  to  him.  The  ass.  This  may  mean  either  the  single  ass  or  the 
species  of  animal  on  which  they  rode.  In  the  former  case  the  two  children  must  have 
been  young.     The  ass  is  a  much  nobler  animal  in  the  East  than  with  us.     The  rod  of 


EXODUS  IV.  21-26.  37 

the  God,  the  true  and  living  God,  in  contrast  with  the  gods  of  the  Jieathen.  The  rod 
after  having  been  transformed  by  the  divine  power  into  a  serpent,  and  from  a  serpent 
into  a  staff  of  office,  may  justly  be  termed  the  rod  of  God, 

21-23.  The  result  of  the  application  of  Moses  to  Pharoh,  and  of  the  performance  of 
all  his  wonders,  will  only  be  an  obstinate  refusal  to  let  the  people  go.  This  is  here 
again  intimated,  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  dread  ultimatum  which  is  to  be  finally 
announced  to  Pharoh.  Behold,  with  the  eye  of  remembrance  and  attention.  The 
wonders.  Works  that  are  supernatural,  or  contravene  the  laws  of  nature.  They  are 
called  signs  in  reference  to  their  use,  as  attesting  the  presence,  the  message,  or  the 
messenger  of  God,  or  as  symbolizing  any  fact  or  doctrine.  *'  AU  "  the  wonders  seem 
to  refer,  not  merely  to  the  three  signs,  but  to  the  first  nine  plagues  with  which  Egypt 
was  visited.  In  thy  hand,  in  thy  power  by  the  rod  in  thy  hand.  A7id  I  will  harden  his 
heart.  The  hardening  of  Pharoh's  heart  is  in  this  narrative  ten  times  ascribed  to  the 
Lord.  But  it  is  also  at  least  twice  ascribed  to  Pharoh  himself  (8  :  28  ;  9  :  34).  In 
seven  other  passages  it  is  stated  simply  as  a  fact,  without  assigning  any  cause.  It  is 
evident  of  itself  that  this  fact  is  ascribed  to  God  and  to  Pharoh  in  different  respects  ; 
so  that  the  two  assertions  are  perfectly  consistent  with  each  other.  It  is  equally 
plain  that  the  act  in  question  belongs  to  Pharoh,  as  the  moral  agent  by  whose  inten- 
tion it  was  performed.  It  belongs  to  God  as  the  Designer,  Creator,  and  Supreme  Gov- 
ernor of  the  existing  universe,  of  which  free  agents  and  their  voluntary  actings  form 
a  part.  His  absolute  and  universal  dominion  follows  from  the  act  of  creation,  and 
was  constantly  present  to  the  minds  of  the  children  of  God  in  ancient  days.  Its  effect 
upon  the  mind  was  solemn  and  impressive,  and  never  suggested  the  faintest  presump- 
tion of  injustice  in  God,  even  when  the  acts  that  were  sinful  in  his  creatures  were 
traced  in  another  sense  to  his  holy  and  awful  will.  The  Scripture,  accordingly,  never 
hesitates  for  a  moment  to  ascribe  absolute  holiness  to  God,  and  all  the  guilt  of  a  sin- 
ful act  to  the  free  agents.  Further  than  this  it  becomes  us  not  to  define  an  adminis- 
tration which  we  are  incompetent  fully  to  conceive,  or  exactly  to  express.  Then  thou 
shalt  say  unto  Pharoh.  This  is  the  ultimate  message,  when  all  feebler  strokes  had 
proved  ineffectual.  Israel  is  my  son,  adopted  in  sovereign  mercy  to  the  inheritance  of 
privileges,  which  to  those  who  appreciate  and  accept  them  will  be  perpetuated  and 
enhanced.  My  first-born,  and  therefore  most  dear,  but  not  exclusively  dear.  The  first- 
bom  son  suggests  other  son§  born  afterward,  and  points  in  the  distance  to  the  calling 
of  the  Gentiles.  And  I  said  unto  thee.  This  refers  to  the  message  again  and  again 
urged  upon  Pharoh,  and  hitherto  obstinately  rejected.  I  will  slay  thy  son.  This  is  the 
final  stroke  on  him  who  persisted  to  the  last  in  leaving  all  to  the  arbitrament  of  war, 
even  with  the  Almighty.  Hjs  first-born,  the  heir  to  his  throne,  and  the  first-born  of 
all  his  people,  must  be  slain  before  he  can  be  induced  to  let  Israel  go. 

24-26.  The  sacred  narrative  is  not  wont  to  notice  incidents  on  the  way,  unless  they 
come  within  the  sphere  of  the  spiritual.  Thus  Jacob  travels  from  Beersheba  to  Haran, 
a  distance  of  nearly  five  hundred  miles,  and  only  the  occurrence  at  Bethel  is  men- 
tioned. So  here  a  single  incident  is  taken  up  from  the  ordinary  routine  of  the  journey 
to  Egypt,  on  account  of  its  moral  import.  It  contains  an  element  of  truth  that  is  of 
present  moment  in  elucidating  the  ways  of  God.  The  Lord  met  him,  and  sought  to  kiU 
him.  The  Lord  had  been  charging  Moses  with  a  menace  of  the  gravest  kind  to  Pharoh. 
It  was  well  that  Moses  himself  should  feel  acutely  the  pang  of  death,  that  he  may 
comprehend  the  terrible  meaning  of  this  threat.  It  appears  that  his  youngest  son  had 
not  been  circumcised,  through  some  unexplained  fault  of  Moses.     The  neglect  of  the 


38  MOSES    OBEYS   THE    CALL. 

divinely  appointed  sign  of  the  covenant  of  peace  with  God  was  a  serious  delinquency, 
especially  in  him  who  was  to  be  the  leader  and  lawgiver  of  the  holy  people.  It  was 
meet  that  the  austere  perfection  of  the  divine  holiness  should  be  made  known  to 
Moses.  It  was  necessary  at  this  stage  of  his  experience  that  he  should  learn  that  God 
is  in  earnest  when  he  speaks,  and  will  assuredly  perform  all  that  he  has  threatened. 
Hence  the  Lord  sought  to  kill  him,  probably  by  some  disease  or  sudden  stroke,  which 
threatened  immediate  death.  And  Zipporah  took.  It  is  probable  from  her  spontane- 
ous promptitude  that  Zipporah  was  in  some  way  the  cause  of  the  delay  in  circumcising 
the  child.  A  sharp  stone.  This  was  a  stone  or  flint  knife,  such  as  was  used  afterward 
by  Joshua  in  circumcising  the  children  of  Israel  on  their  entrance  into  the  land  of 
Kenaan  (Jos.  5:2).  We  read  that  Tubal-cain,  the  eighth  in  descent  from  Adam,  was 
a  worker  in  brass  and  iron.  Hence  it  appears  that  implements  of  stone  were  contem- 
poraneous with  those  of  the  common  metals.  The  use  of  them  seems  to  have  pre- 
vailed in  rural  or  remote  regions,  into  which  the  arts  of  smelting  and  forging  metals 
had  not  penetrated.  The  theory,  therefore,  of  the  successive  ages  of  stone,  brass,  and 
iron,  may  apply  to  particular  localities,  but  not  to  the  whole  habitable  earth.  The 
arts  of  metallurgy  flourished  in  certain  races,  while  the  ruder  ware,  fashioned  out  of 
stone,  bone,  and  wood,  was  prevalent  among  others.  And  cast  it  at  his  feet.  This  in- 
dicates that  Moses  had  signified  his  wish  that  the  child  should  be  circumcised.  For 
a  spouse  of  blood  art  thou  to  me.  The  word /or  refers  to  the  significant  act  of  casting  the 
foreskin  at  Moses's  feet,  which  implied  that  her  connection  with  him  had  necessitated 
this  blood}^  rite.  Her  womanly  tenderness  shrunk  from  the  23ainful  operation.  A^id 
he  left  him.  The  Lord,  who  sought  to  put  him  to  death,  remitted  the  penalty  now  that 
the  neglected  duty  was  performed.  Because  of  the  circumcision.  This  explains  her 
accosting  Moses  as  a  spouse  of  blood,  as  it  was  to  save  him  from  death  that  she  was 
constrained  to  do  herself  the  masculine  part  of  circumcising  her  child.  This  was  a 
salutary  and  seasonable  lesson  to  Zipporah  as  well  as  to  Moses.  The  occurrence  prob- 
ably took  place  on  the  first  night  of  their  journey,  as  they  had  not  reached  the  mount 
of  God  (vs.  27).  The  child  was  now  unfit  for  travel,  and  it  was  easy  for  the  mother  to 
return  with  the  two  children  to  her  father.  It  is  most  likely,  therefore,  that  this  was 
the  point  from  which  she  was  sent  home  by  hej  husband  (18  : 2),  in  order  to  avoid  the 
dangers  and  inconveniences  which  she  was  willing  to  brave  on  his  account,  had  not 
this  providential  interposition  ordered  it  otherwise.*         ; 

Moses  must  have  occupied  at  least  a  day  in  returning  to  Midian  with  the  flock  of 
Jethro,  two  or  three  days  in  making  preparations,  and  a  day  in  setting  out  with  his 
wife  and  family.  The  distance  from  Midian  to  Egypt  was  probably  not  less  than  two 
hundred  miles,  for  which  we  may  allow  seven  days.  Starting  about  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  according  to  our  reckoning  he  would  arrive  in  Egypt  about  the  13th  of 
January. 

27-31.  We  have  here  a  summary  of  the  reception  which  Moses  met  with  from  the 
people.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Aaron.  The  narrative,  as  usual,  goes  back  a  little  to 
take  up  another  line  of  things.  In  the  wilderness,  the  region  between  the  gulfs  of  Suez 
and  Akabah.  In  the  mount  of  the  God  of  heaven  they  met.  And  kissed  him,  the  eastern 
mode  of  salutation.     After  receiving  instructions  from  Moses,  Aaron  accompanied  him 

*  There  is  nothing  violent  in  the  supposition  that  Zipporah  was  unfavorable  to  circumcision,  not 
In  sympathy  with  the  Hebrew  people  and  ways,  and  so  her  return  to  her  father  may  have  been  on 
many  accounts  a  precedent  step.  She  rejoices  him  wh'.n  an  undertaking,  which  she  may  have  deemed 
quixotic,  is  complete  (ch.  18  :  5-6).— J.  H. 


EXODUS   V.  39 

to  Egypt.  They  gathered  the  elders  of  the  people  (3  :  16).  And  Aaron  spake  (vs.  16). 
Aaron  being  eighty-three  years  of  age,  and  having  lived  constantly  among  the  people, 
now  served  to  introduce  Moses  who  had  been  an  exile  for  forty  years,  and  was  there- 
fore -unknown  to  the  rising  generation.  And  did  the  signs.  As  Aaron  did  the  signs 
before  Pharoh,  it  is  proiable  and  accordant  with  the  text  that  he  should  also  be  the 
performer  before  the  people.  This  is  in  keeping  with  the  relation  between  Moses 
and  himself  (vs.  16).  It  is  also  an  example  of  the  rule  that  a  man  is  said  to  do  what 
another  does  in  his  stead  and  by  his  authority  (vs.  17).  Bowed  themselves  down.  Bent 
their  bodies  as  well  as  their  heads  in  reverence  before  God,  So  far  all  went  well  with 
Moses.  His  brother  entered  heartily  into  his  misoion,  and  the  people  acknowledged 
him  as  the  messenger  of  God. 


IV.   MOSES  ENCOURAGED   IN  HIS   OFFICE.— Ex.    5,    6. 

CHAP.    V. — MOSES   APPEARS   BEFORE   PHAKOH. 

3.  j«^"ii^j.  This  form  here  signifies  to  meet  with,  as  the  verb  does  in  several 
places  (Gen.  42  : 4  ;  49  : 1,  and  always  in  the  form  riNIp^))  ^^d  as  the  context 
proves  (3  :  18).     ^p  is  the  more  usual  form  of  the  verb  with  this  meaning. 

6.  ''\i2i^  ypaju^uarevs  a  scribe,  prefect,  officer,  employed  in  duties  involving  the 
keeping  of  accounts,  lists,  and  other  records. 

V.  1.  And  afterward  Moses  and  Aaron  went  and  said  unto  Pharoh,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  let  my  people  go  and  hold  a  teast  unto  me  in  the  wilderness. 
2.  And  Pharoh  said.  Who  is  the  Lokd,  that  I  should  hearken  to  his  voice  to  let  Israel 
go  ?  I  know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let  Israel  go.  3.  And  they  said.  The  God  of 
the  Hebrews  hath  met  with  us  :  let  us  go  now  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness, 
and  sacrifice  unto  the  Lokd  our  God,  lest  he  fall  upon  us  with  pestilence  or  with  the 
sword.  4.  And  the  king  of  Mizraim  said  unto  them,  Wherefore  do  ye,  Moses  and 
Aaron,  loose  the  people  from  their  works  ?  Get  you  to  your  burdens.  5,  And  Pharoh 
said,  Lo,  the  people  of  the  land  are  now  many,  and  ye  make  them  rest  from  their 
burdens. 

6.  And  Pharoh  commanded  that  day  the  taskmasters  over  the  people  and  their 
officers,  saying,  7.  Ye  shall  not  continue  to  give  straw  to  the  people  to  make  brick,  as 
heretofore  ;  let  them  go  and  gather  straw  for  themselves.  8.  And  the  tale  of  the  bricks 
which  they  made  heretofore  ye  shall  lay  upon  them  ;  ye  shall  not  take  from  it  ;  for  they 
are  idle  :  therefore  they  cry,  saying.  Let  us  go  sacrifice  to  our  God.  9.  Let  the  service 
be  heavy  on  the  men,  and  let  them  work  therein  ;  and  let  them  not  regard  vain  words. 
10.  Then  went  out  the  taskmasters  of  the  people  and  their  officers,  and  spake  unto  the 
people,  saying,  Thus  saith  Pharoh,  I  will  not  give  you  straw.  11.  Go  ye  yourselves, 
get  you  straw  where  ye  can  find  it  ;  for  not  ought  of  your  service  shall  be  taken  off. 

12.  And  the  people  were  scattered  throughout  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  to  gather 
stubble  for  straw.  13.  And  the  taskmasters  hasted  them,  saying.  Fulfil  your  works, 
the  daily  task,  as  when  there  was  straw.  14.  And  the  officers  of  the  sons  of  Israel, 
whom  Pharoh's  taskmasters  had  set  over  them,  were  beaten,  while  it  was  said.  Why 
have  ye  not  fulfilled  your  task  in  making  brick,  as  heretofore,  both  yesterday  and  to- 
day ?  15.  And  the  officers  of  the  sons  of  Israel  went  in  and  cried  unto  Pharoh,  say- 
ing, Wliy  dealest  thou  thus  with  thy  servants  ?  16.  No  straw  is  given  unto  thy  serv- 
ants, and  they  say  to  us.  Make  brick  :  and  behold  thy  servants  are  beaten,  and  it  is 
the  fault  of  thy  people.  17.  And  he  said.  Ye  are  idle,  ye  are  idle  ;  therefore  ye  say, 
Let  us  go  sacrifice  to  the  Lord.  18.  And  now  go,  work  :  and  no  s-^raw  shall  be  given 
you,  and  the  tale  of  bricks  ye  shall  deliver. 


.40  MOSES   APPEAES   BEFORE   PHAROH. 

19.  And  the  officers  of  the  sons  of  Israel  saw  that  they  were  in  evil  case,  when  it  was 
said,  Ye  shall  not  take  off  from  the  daily  task  of  your  bricks.  20.  And  they  met 
Moses  and  Aaron  standing  in  the  way  as  they  came  out  from  Pharoh.  21.  And  they 
said  unto  them,  The  Loed  look  upon  you,  and  judge  ;  because  ye  have  made  our  savor 
to  stink  in  the  eyes  of  Pharoh,  and  in  the  eyes  of  his  servants,  to  put  a  sword  in  their 
hand  to  slay  us.  22.  And  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lokd  and  said.  Lord,  wherefore 
hast  thou  done  evil  to  this  people  ?  Why  is  this,  that  thou  hast  sent  me  ?  23,  And 
since  I  M^ent  m  to  Pharoh  to  speak  in  thy  name,  he  hath  done  evil  to  this  people  ; 
neither  hast  thou  delivered  thy  people  at  all. 

In  further  prosecution  of  their  mission,  Moses  and  Aaron  now  present  themselves 
before  Pharoh.  But  they  are  dismissed  with  contempt,  and  new  hardships  are  im- 
posed on  the  people  and  their  officers.  Moses  returns  to  God  disappointed  and  com- 
plaining, 

1-5.  The  request  made  by  Moses  is  contemptuously  refused  hj  Pharoh.  And  after^ 
tmrd.  After  the  people  had  accepted  his  authority,  Moses  was  prepared  to  go  before 
Pharoh.  Moses  and  Aaron,  accompanied,  no  doubt,  by  the  representatives  of  the 
people  (3  :  18).  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel.  Jehovah  was  the  God  of  Adam 
(Gen.  2  : 7,  16),  the  God  of  Noah  (Gen.  6  : 8  ;  8  :  20,  21),  and  consequently  of  the 
whole  race  descended  from  him.  He  is  here  called  the  God  of  Israel,  not  as'  if  he 
were  one  among  the  national  gods,  but  because  the  other  nations  have  corrupted  the 
notion  and  worship  of  God,  and  because  he  has  entered  into  a  covenant  of  grace  with 
Israel.  Let  my  people  go.  The  request  is  peremptory,  because  it  comes  directly  from 
God  himself.  And  hold  a  feast  unto  me  in  the  wilderness.  To  hold  a  feast  is  the  imme- 
diate object  of  the  journey.  This  is  according  to  the  divine  manner  of  teaching. 
God  promises  a  present  seed  ;  but  there  is  a  future  seed  :  a  good  land  ;  but  there  is  a 
better  country  :  an  earthly  rest,  beyond  which  there  is  a  heavenly  rest.  He  speaks  to 
men  of  the  near  and  the  obvious,  and  those  who  hear  he  leads  on  to  higher  powers 
of  understanding  and  nobler  scenes  of  enjoyment.  Besides  Pharoh  was  not  entitled 
to  know,  and  he  does  not  condescend  to  ask  what  were  the  ulterior  purposes  of  God. 
In  the  xoilderness  simply  means  out  of  Egypt,  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  its  sovereign 
and  the  interference  of  its  people.  A  sequestered  scene  was  often  selected  by  ancient 
taste  for  a  solemn  festival.  2.  I  know  not  the  Lord.  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  was 
not  unknown  to  the  predecessors  of  Pharoh  (Gen.  12  :  17,  41  ;  43  :  23).  He  could 
scarcely  be  ignorant  that  the  Israelites  had  a  God.  But  the  import  of  the  name  here 
employed  may  have  been  unknown  to  him,  and  at  all  events  he  refuses  to  acknowl- 
edge the  authority  of  Jehovah.  Their  reply  is  explanatory.  The  God  of  the  Hebrews, 
of  which  well-known  nation  (Gen.  10  :  21  ;  14  :  13  ;  41  :  15  ;  41  :  12)  the  Israelites  were 
a  branch  (1  :  15-19),  is  he  whose  name  is  Jehovah.  Hath  met  with  us,  has  revealed  him- 
self to  us  in  the  miracles  wrought  in  our  presence,  and  the  message  communicated  to 
us  by  Moses.  Three  days'  journey.  See  on  3  :  18.  Lest  he  fall  on  us  icith  pestilence  or 
with  the  sword.  The  sword  is  under  the  control  of  Providence  as  well  as  the  pestilence. 
This  is  added  to  bring  out  clearly  the  necessity  of  their  departure.  Pharoh  will  gain 
nothing  by  withholding  his  permission,  as  these  bond-slaves,  whom  he  values  so 
much,  may  be  destroyed  by  a  stroke  from  heaven,  from  which  even  his  own  subjects 
might  not  escape.  There  is  a  clear  and  unavoidable  obligation,  therefore,  on  the 
Israelites  to  make  this  demand.  It  dawns  upon  the  mind  of  Pharoh  that  this  dej^art- 
ure  involves  the  emancipation  and  independence  of  the  Israelites.  But  he  will  not 
ask  the  question,  or  entertain  the  thought.  He  treats  their  demands  with  a  haughty 
impatience.     Get  you  to  your  burdens.     This  is  meant  for  the  representatives  of  the 


EXODUS  Y.    6-23.  41 

people,  as  the  former  part  of  his  reply  was  addressed  to  Moses  and  Aaron.  5.  The 
people  of  the  land.  They  are  called  the  people  of  the  land  with  reference  to  Goshen, 
where  they  were  settled,  in  contrast  with  Pharoh  himself,  who  belonged  to  the  domi- 
nant race,  which  may  have  been  of  foreign  extraction,  or  because  they  were  engaged 
in  rural  occupations  (1  :  14).  Are  now  many.  They  are  already  so  numerous  as  to  en- 
danger the  state.  And  ye  make  them  rest,  when  they  require  to  be  kept  down  in  num- 
bers and  in  spirit  by  hard  and  constant  labor.  It  is  evident  that  Pharoh  spurns  the 
thought  of  letting  the  people  go. 

6-11.  He  determined  to  crush  the  nascent  thought  of  freedom  in  the  very  bud. 
That  day.  The  case  is  urgent,  and  no  time  is  to  be  lost.  The  taskmasters.  The  Egyp- 
tian drivers,  who  had  the  management  of  the  servile  labor.  Tlieir  officers.  The 
Shoterim  were  orderlies  or  managers  who  kept  an  account  of  all  matters  that  came 
under  their  charge.  They  appear  to  have  been  permanent  officials  in  the  state  of 
Israel,  as  Moses  makes  express  provision  for  their  continuance  (Deut.  16  :  18),  and  they 
are  mentioned  on  various  occasions  in  -the  subsequent  history  of  the  people  (Num. 
11  :  16  ;  Deut.  1  :  15  ;  Judg.  5  :  14  ;  2  Chron.  26  :  11).  They  occupied  the  highest  rank 
among  the  people,  for  we  find  Moses  selecting  from  among  them  members  of  the  orig- 
inal Council  or  Sanhedrin  of  Israel  (Num.  11  :  16),  and  they  are  included  among  the 
representatives  of  the  people  in  the  public  assembly  (Deut.  29  :  10).  The  very  name 
of  this  of&cial  indicates  a  literary  people.  It  is  judicious  in  a  despotic  sovereign, 
governing  a  conquered  or  enslaved  tribe,  to  avail  himself  of  certain  parts  of  the  polit- 
ical organization  which  they  have  adopted.  7.  Straw.  Straw  cut  into  small  pieces 
was  mixed  with  the  clay,  apparently  to  give  consistency  to  the  brick  until  it  was  baked 
in  the  sun.  The  sun-dried  bricks  of  Egypt  are  so  durable  that  many  still  remain  that 
were  made  many  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  On  being  analj^zed  they  are 
found  to  contain  a  portion  of  straw.  The  tale  of  the  bricks.  The  same  quantity  of 
bricks  was  to  be  produced,  though  the  straw  had  to  be  gathered,  in  addition  to  their 
former  labors.  They  are  idle.  They  have  not  enough  to  do,  and  so  they  have  time  to 
think  about  freedom.  Let  them  work  therein,  be  busy,  fully  employed.  Vain  words. 
Pharoh  affects  to  regard  the  statement  that  their  God  had  interposed  as  a  falsehood, 
invented  by  Moses  and  Aaron.  11.  Go  ye,  for  no  other  will  any  more  supply  you. 
For  not  ought  of  your  service  shall  he  taken  off,  Therefore  bestir  yourselves  to  find  the 
straw. 

12-18.  After  two  days  the  Shoterim  are  beaten,  because  the  appointed  number  of 
bricks  is  not  supplied  ;  and  on  complaining  to  Pharoh,  obtain  no  redress.  13.  The 
daily  task,  the  rate  of  a  day  in  its  day.  16.  And  it  is  the  fault  of  thy  people,  who  do  not 
supply  us  with  straw  as  formerly.  17.  Ye  are  idle.  Pharoh  has  no  new  answer  for  the 
officers.     The  intolerable  burden  he  will  not  remove. 

19-23.  The  officers  reproach  Moses  and  Aaron  for  involving  them  and  the  people  in 
this  distress.  Moses,  deeply  dejected,  makes  his  appeal  to  God.  20.  They  came  upon, 
encountered  Moses  and  Aaron,  who  were  standing  in  the  way,  probably  awaiting  the 
issue  of  their  application  to  Pharoh.  21.  To  put  a  sword  in  their  hand  to  slay  us,  to 
give  a  ground  of  offence,  provoking  Pharoh  to  such  measures  as  will  end  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  people.  22.  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lord.  His  mission  to  Pharoh  has 
entirely  failed.  It  has  only  added  to  the  misery  of  the  people.  He  lays  this  before 
the  Lord  in  verj^  plain  terms.  The  chapter  is  abruptly  closed  with  the  earnest  expos- 
tulation of  Moses.  The  sombre  picture  of  wretchedness  is  thus  left  to  make  its  full 
impression  on  the  mind. 


43  MOSES   EifCOURAGED — HIS   GEN^EALOGY. 


CHAP.    VI. — MOSES   ENCOURAGED — HIS   GENEALOGY. 

17.  i_2^'7  Libni,  white;  r.  he  white,     lyj^ti^  Shimei,  hearing;  r.  hear. 

18.  Cl/Oy  ' Amram,  linding  ;  r.  Und.  inH''  Jitshar,  oil ;  r.  shine.  ^j^i-"|y  Uzziel, 
God  my  strength. 

19.  i^niO  MacWi,  sickness ;  r.  5^  szc^.     i^"'lJ3  MusW,  yielding ;  r.  yzeZi^. 

20.  n^DI'*'  Jokebed,  ^Zor?/  to  Jehovah. 

21.  p,-|p  Qorach,  ^ai7;  r.  congeal.  ^^^  Nepheg,  sprig;  r.  u.  sprout,  i-^n^ 
Zikri,  rememlyrance. 

22.  ^^ti^'i^j^  Mishael,  ■zoAo  is  what  Ood  is  f  I'^^^K  Eltsaphan,  Ood  a  hiding-place. 
''inO  Sithri,  hiding-place. 

23.  y^ti^^^i^  Elislieba  ,  God  is  my  oath,  nij^^y  'Amminadab,  bounteous  to  my 
people,  jl'^'nj  Nachshon,  serpentine.  n^J  Nadab,  lounteous.  5^in''IlJ<  Abihu,  Ae 
a  father.     ~]]j;7{^  El'azar,   (rCfi  a  help,     nion''}^  Ithamar,  ^cA6re  the  palm. 

24.  -^"is^s*  Assir,  captive.  Hjp^N  Elqanah,  gotten  from  God.  ?]C^?''2^^  Abia- 
saph,  father  of  gathering. 

25.  7^^it;2'l9  Putiel,  afflicted  of  God.     CHJ^'B  Pinechas,  hrasen  mouth. 

VI.  1.  And  the  Lobd  said  iiiito  Moses,  Now  shalt  thou  see  what  I  will  do  to  Pharoh  : 
for  by  a  strong  hand  shall  he  let  them  go,  and  by  a  strong  hand  shall  he  drive  them 
out  of  his  land.  14.  §  §  §  2. 

2.  And  God  spake  unto  Moses,  and  said  unto  him,  I  am  the  Loed.  3  And  I  ap- 
peared unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob  as  God  Almighty  :  but  by  my 
name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  to  them.  4.  And  I  have  also  established  my  cove- 
nant with  them,  to  give  them  the  land  of  Kenaan  ;  the  land  of  their  sojournings 
wherein  they  sojourned.  5.  And  I  have  also  heard  the  groaning  of  the  sons  of  Israel, 
whom  Mizraim  keeps  in  bondage,  and  I  remembered  ray  covenant.  6.  Wherefore  say 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  I  am  the  Lokd,  and  I  will  bring  you  out  from  under  the 
burdens  of  Mizraim,  and  deliver  you  out  of  their  service  ;  and  I  will  redeem  you  with 
a  stretched-out  arm  and  with  great  judgments.  7.  And  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  peo- 
ple, and  I  will  be  to  you  a  God  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  who 
bringeth  you  out  from  under  the  burdens  of  Mizraim.  8.  And  I  will  bring  you  into 
the  land,  which  I  lifted  up  my  hand  to  give  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob  ;  and 
I  will  give  it  to  you  for  a  possession  :  I  am  the  Lord.  9.  And  Moses  spake  so  unto  the 
sons  of  Israel,  and  they  hearkened  not  unto  Moses  from  anguish  of  sjjirit  and  from 
hard  service.  H  6. 

10.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  11.  Go  in,  speak  unto  Pharoh  king  of 
Mizraim,  that  he  let  the  sons  of  Israel  go  out  of  his  land.  12.  And  Moses  spake  before 
the  Lord,  saying,  Behold,  the  sons  of  Israel  have  not  hearkened  unto  me  ;  and  how 
shall  Pharoh  hearken  unto  me,  who  am  uncircumcised  of  lips  ?  IT  7. 

13.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  and  gave  them  a  charge  unto 
the  sons  of  Israel,  and  unto  Pharoh  king  of  Mizraim,  to  bring  the  sons  of  Israel  out 
of  the  land  of  Mizraim.  §  3. 

14.  These  are  the  heads  of  their  fathers'  houses  :  the  sons  of  Keuben,  the  first-born 
of  Israel  ;  Henok  and  Pallu,  Hezron  and  Karmi  ;  these  are  the  families  of  Keuben.  15. 
And  the  sons  of  Simon  ;  Jemuel,  and  Jamin,  and  Ohad,  and  Jakin,  and  Zohar,  and 
Saul,  the  son  of  a  Kenaanitess.;  these  are  the  families  of  Simon.  16.  And  these  are 
the  names  of  the  sons  of  Levi,  according  to  their  generations  ;  Gershon,  and  Kohath, 
and  Merari.  And  the  years  of  the  life  of  Levi  were  seven  and  thirty  and  a  hundred 
years.  17.  The  sons  of  Gershon  ;  Libni  and  Shimi,  according  to  their  families.  18. 
And  the  sons  of  Kohath  ;  Amram,  and  Izhar,  and  Hebron,  and  Uzziel.  And  the  years 
of  the  life  of  Kohath  were  three  and  thirty  and  a  hundred  years.     19.  And  the  sons 


EXODUS  VI.  1-9.  43 

of  Merari  ;  Mahli  and  MusM.  These  are  the  families  of  Levi,  according  to  their  gen- 
erations. 20.  And  Amram  took  him  Jokebed,  his  aunt,  to  wife,  and  she  bare  him 
Aaron  and  Moses.  And  the  years  of  the  life  of  Amram  were  seven  and  thirty  and  a 
hundred  years.  21.  And  the  sons  of  Izhar  ;  Korah,  and  Nepheg,  and  Zikri.  22.  And 
the  sons  of  Uzziel  ;  Mishael,  and  Elzaphan,  and  Sithri.  23.  And  Aaron  took  Elisheba, 
daughter  of  Amminadab,  sister  of  Nahshon,  to  wife  ;  and  she  bare  him  Nadab  and 
Abihu,  Eleazar  and  Ithamar.  24.  And  the  sons  of  Korah  ;  Assir  and  Elkanah  and  Abi- 
asaph.  These  are  the  families  of  the  Korhites.  25.  And  Eleazar,  Aaron's  son,  took 
him  a  wife  of  the  daughters  of  Putiel  ;  and  she  bare  him  Phinehas.  These  are  the 
heads  of  the  fathers  of  the  Levites,  according  to  their  families.  26.  These  are  the 
Aaron  and  Moses,  to  whom  the  Lokd  had  said,  Bring  out  the  sons  of  Israel  from  the 
land  of  Mizraim  according  to  their  hosts.  27.  These  are  they  who  spake  to  Pharoh 
king  of  Mizraim,  to  bring  out  the  sons  of  Israel  from  Mizraim.  These  are  the  Moses 
and  Aaron.  28.  And  it  was  in  the  day  when  the  Loed  spake  unto  Moses  in  the  land  of 
Mizraim.  §  4. 

29.  And  the  Lokd  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  I  am  the  Lord  :  speak  unto  Pharoh  king 
of  Mizraim,  all  that  I  speak  unto  thee.     30.  And  Moses  said  before  the  Loed,  Behold, 

1  am  uncircumcised  of  lips,  and  how  shall  Pharoh  hearken  unto  me  ?  If  8. 

The  dejected  Moses  is  reassured  by  a  new  assertion  and  exposition  of  the  actual 
presence  of  God  to  perform  his  promise  to  his  people  (vs.  1-3).  The  pedigree  of  Moses 
and  Aaron,  and  others  who  are  to  figure  in  the  future  scene  is  now  given,  preparatory 
to  the  commencement  of  Israel's  deliverance  (vs.  14-30). 

1.  The  Lord's  reply  is  directed  not  to  the  complaint  of  Moses,  of  which  he  takes  no 
notice,  but  to  the  contemptuous  refusal  with  which  Pharoh  had  met  his  rightful  de- 
mand. To  receive  a  message  from  his  Maker  was  an  unspeakable  honor.  Even  if  he 
suspected  the  message  to  be  a  pretence,  yet  reverence  for  him  in  whose  name  the 
bearers  of  it  professed  to  come  should  have  led  to  the  most  cautious  inquiry  before 
he  replied.  He  was  not  to  act  upon  a  surmise  in  any  case,  much  less  in  a  case  of 
such  moment.  Now.  In  the  very  height  of  Pharoh's  arrogance  and  oppression,  and 
in  the  depth  of  the  people's  anguish  and  despair,  will  the  Lord  appear.  By  a  strong 
hand  (3  :  19).  By  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  inflicting  stroke  upon  stroke,  until  the 
spirit  of  Pharoh  is  broken.  Thus  will  he  be  constrained  not  only  to  give  them  leave, 
but  even  to  drive  them  out  of  his  land.  The  second,  "  by  a  strong  hand, "  for  which 
the  Sept.  has  "  by  a  high  arm"  (ei>  iSpaxcovi  viprjAu)),  is  emphatic.  The  Sabbath  lesson 
of  the  sj^nagogue  terminates  here,  after  having  given  relief  to  the  anxiety  of  the 
hearer  by  a  new  promise  of  God, 

2-9.  The  reassurance  of  the  preceding  communication  is  now  sustained  by  a  recur- 
rence to  the  cheering  import  of  the  name  Jehovah,  and  a  recapitulation  of  all  the  old 
promises  to  the  patriarchs.  And  God  spake.  The  Everlasting  and  Unchangeable  One 
spake.  lam  the  Lokd  Jehovah.  The  Eeal,  the  Self- existent,  the  Author  of  all  other 
existence,  manifesting  my  being  by  my  presence  in  and  power  over  nature  for  the 
performance  of  my  long-revealed  purpose.  This  is  a  name  of  power  and  hope  to  cheer 
the  darkest  heart.  3.  As  God  Almighty.  The  name  Jehovah  was  made  known  to 
Adam  by  the  stupendous  works  of  the  six  days  creation,  which  were  unfolded  in  all 
their  finished  beauty  and  grandeur  before  his  outward  eyes  and  inmost  soul  (Gen. 

2  :  4,  16,  22  ;  4  : 1).  It  was  also  revealed  to  Noah  in  the  preservation  of  his  own 
family,  and  the  destruction  of  the  old  world  by  a  flood,  which  were  to  the  Most  High 
but  the  waving  of  his  hand,  though  to  man  they  were  the  majestic  doings  of  Jehovah. 
But  in  the  matter  of  the  promise  made  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  of  a  land  of  habitation 
he  was  known  to  them  yet  only  as  a  promiser,  not  yet  as  a  performer.  Hence  he 
appeared  to  them  as  ElShaddai  (Gen.  17  : 1),  God  Almighty,  a  name  expressly  fitted 


44  MOSES   Ei^COURAGED — HIS   GENEALOGY. 

to  awaken  and  warrant  faith  in  a  promise,  inasmuch  as  it  points  to  the  attributes  of 
unchangeableness  and  omnipotence,  which  are  the  guarantees  of  its  ultimate  fulfil- 
ment. But  hy  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  to  them.  As  the  performer  of  promise, 
the  giver  of  existence  to  that  purpose  which  he  had  expressed,  he  was  not  known, 
personally  and  practically  known,  to  them.  By  the  voice  of  history,  by  the  records  of 
the  wondrous  past,  they  were  aware  that  he  was  the  Lord,  and  this  name  was  often  ac- 
tually on  their  lips  (Gen.  12  : 1,  7,  8  ;  14  :  22  ;  15  :  2,  6  ;  17  : 1  ;  18  :  27  ;  21  :  33  ;  22  :  14  ; 
25  :  21  ;  28  :  13,  16,  21).  But  in  their  own  experience,  and  in  the  matter  of  the  special 
revelation  made  to  them,  and  only  now  to  be  realized,  he  was  not  known  to  them  as 
Jehovah  the  agent,  but  only  as  El  Shaddai  the  potent.  To  know  by  personal  observa- 
tion is  the  primitive  meaning  of  the  verb  ?;-|i  "  know."  This  is  evinced  by  the  use  of 
the  perfect  "I  have  perceived,"  to  denote  what  we  express  by  "  I  know,"  like  novi, 
olda,  by  the  contrast  of  knowing  with  hearing,  in  such  sentences  as  *iynw'n  ^h  PSJ 
^Pin  N"?!*!  (^^^-  ^^  •  ^^)'  ^^^  ^y  ^^®  frequent  occurrence  of  the  verb  in  this  particular 
meaning  (Gen.  3  :  5,  7,  22  ;  18  :  21  ;  22  :  12  ;  Ex.  5  : 2).  That  "  name"  denotes  the 
nature,  the  import  of  the  name,  the  being  to  whom  belongs  the  attribute  signalized  in 
the  name,  cannot  be  unknown  to  the  attentive  reader  of  the  Bible.  (See  on  Gen.  1:5; 
2  :  23  ;  3  :  20  ;  27  :  36  ;  Ex.  3  :  13).  The  meaning  thus  assigned  to  the  important  verse 
before  us  is,  therefore,  agreeable  to  the  usage  of  Scripture.  It  vindicates  the  veracity 
and  consistency  of  the  sacred  historian.  And  it  is  singularly  pertinent  to  the  context 
in  which  it  occurs.  It  affords  also  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  custom  exemiDli- 
fied  in  the  names  Bethel  (Gen.  12  : 8),  Dan  (Gen.  14  :  14),  Jacob  and  Esau  (Gen. 
25  :  30),  according  to  which  a  former  name  is  renewed  and  perpetuated  by  a  new  occa- 
sion occurring  for  its  application. 

4,  5.  These  verses  are  a  recapitulation  of  the  past.  6-8.  The  promise  now  to  be 
realized.  Say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  I  am  the  Lokd.  This  is  henceforth  to  be  the  word 
of  encouragement,  of  authority,  and  of  fellowship  to  Israel.  It  reminds  them  that 
God  is  now  active  on  their  behalf  ;  that  it  is  God  who  is  thus  active,  and  that  he  is 
present  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  them  as  a  father  among  his  adopted  children.  It 
guarantees  the  following  promise.  A  stretched-out  arm,  a  bold  figure  for  the  strenuous 
interposition  of  Jehovah.  Take  you  to  me  for  a  people.  This  is  a  winning  and  persua- 
sive argument  to  a  downtrodden  people.  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Loed.  They 
shall  know  by  actual  experience  that  he  is  all  that  is  implied  in  the  name  Jehovah,  an 
actual,  and  therefore  tried,  deliverer.  /  lifted  up  my  hand  (Gen.  14  :  22),  I  sware,  by 
lifting  up,  in  solemn  appeal  to  God  as  a  witness,  the  hand,  the  emblem  of  power,  to 
perform  what  is  sworn.  The  phrase  is  transferred  with  a  singular  emphasis  from  the 
human  gesture  to  the  divine  asseveration.  I  am  the  Loed.  This  sentence  is  here 
repeated  for  the  third  time  in  this  message,  enhanced  by  all  the  emphasis  which  the 
distinction  made  between  the  divine  names  (vs.  3)  has  added  to  its  meaning.  It  is 
the  seal  of  God  thrice  stamped  upon  his  promise.  9.  Notwithstanding  the  cheering 
effect  of  this  new  communication  on  Moses,  the  people  were  so  heart-broken  that  they 
hearkened  not  to  the  comfortable  words  with  which  he  addressed  them. 

10-12.  With  a  heavy  heart  and  sorely  wounded  spirit  Moses  must  have  turned  from 
the  people.  Yet  the  Lord  directs  him  to  go  again  to  Pharoh.  Moses  pleads  his 
want  of  persuasive  power.  If  his  own  people  have  not  hearkened  unto  him,  how 
will  Pharoh  hearken?  Uncircumcised  of  lips.  Circumcision  is  the  sign  of  a  re- 
newal of  nature.  The  uncircumcised  is,  therefore,  by  a  natural  figure,  one  who  is 
still  in  the  bondage  of  a  corrupt  heart  and  incapable  of  holy  doings.     By  a  further 


EXODUS  VI.  13-28.  45 

turn  of  •  the  metaplior,  lie  is  uncircnmcised  of  lips  who  is  incompetent  to  speak  in  a 
manner  fitted  to  produce  conviction  and  compliance. 

13,  It  is  here  stated  in  summary  terms  that  the  Lord  now  gave  a  joint  command 
or  peremptory  charge  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  unto,  that  is,  to  go  unto,  the  sons  of  Israel 
and  unto  Pharoh,  and  to  bring  Israel  out  of  Egj^t.  Aaron  is  joined  in  the  commis- 
sion as  before,  to  obviate  the  difficulty  of  Moses  about  his  failure  to  persuade  the  peo- 
ple. The  last  symptom  of  reluctance  on  the  part  of  Moses  has  now  been  overruled, 
and  at  this  point  the  historian  is  conscious  that  it  is  due  to  the  leaders  of  this  great 
movement,  and  to  the  ends  of  history,  to  give  an  account  of  the  relation  in  which 
Moses  and  Aaron,  and  some  of  their  kindred,  who  take  a  part  in  the  following  transac- 
tions, stand  to  the  other,  and  especially  the  elder  branches  of  the  now  great  family  of 
Israel.  This  is  the  very  moment  for  introducing  this  statement,  as  these  ministers 
of  the  Lord  are  on  the  eve  of  entering,  without  any  more  faltering,  on  the  momentous 
conflict  between  the  powers  of  light  and  darkness,  which  is  to  end  in  the  deliverance 
of  the  children  of  Israel.  Hence,  after  the  summary  notice  of  the  positive  command 
now  laid  upon  Moses  and  Aaron,  the  genealogical  notice  is  inserted. 

14-28.  The  narrative  here  reverts  to  a  point  of  time  long  passed  in  the  general 
course  of  events  related.  77ie.se  are  the  heads  of  their  fathers'  houses.  The  twelve 
tribes  (□'it^^Ii'  °^  DilOD)  ^^  Israel  were  now  divided,  each  into  families  (pi'inQti'D)' 
and  the  families  into  fathers'  houses  (n^  H''^'  ^^  ^^®  plural  p)jn{^  FT'Ii)-  ^^  ^^  ^^^' 
dent  that  in  a  nation  that  had  a  set  of  officers  whose  business  it  was  to  keep  written 
accounts  of  all  matters  coming  under  their  charge,  we  may  expect  to  find  genealogical 
lists  kept  with  care  and  accuracy.  Moses,  therefore,  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the 
register  of  his  family.  In  quoting  from  the  public  records,  it  was  both  respectful  to 
the  two  elder  tribes  and  essential  to  a  clear  statement  of  the  relative  position  of  Moses 
and  Aaron  in  the  nation  to  give  at  least  the  families  contained  in  these  tribes.  Then 
follow  what  are,  strictly  speaking,  their,  that  is,  Moses  and  Aaron's  fathers'  houses. 
The  ages  of  Levi,  Kohath,  and  Amram,  the  lineal  ancestors  of  the  leaders  of  the 
people,  are  given.  The  second  son  of  Levi  is  the  father  of  Amram.  And  Amram  took 
him  Jokebed,  his  aunt,  to  loife  (see  on  2  : 1).  We  are  here  brought  to  the  parents  of 
Moses  and  Aaron.  21.  The  sons  of  Izhar  are  introduced  on  account  of  Korah,  who 
afterward  comes  to  a  bad  pre-eminence  (Num.  16).  22.  The  sons  of  Uzziel  are  men. 
tioned  because  they  also  recur  in  the  narrative  (Lev.  10  : 4),  23.  Elisheba,  sister  of 
Nahshon,  was  the  fifth  (inclusive)  in  descent  from  Judah  ;  while  Aaron  was  only  the 
fourth  from  Levi  by  his  father's  side,  and  the  third  by  his  mother's.  This  prepares 
us  to  expect  great  disparity  in  the  number  of  generations  in  different  lines.  Aaron's 
sons  will  meet  us  in  the  narrative  hereafter.  24.  The  sons  of  Korah  were  the  surviv- 
ors of  their  father,  and  became  heads  of  families  (Num.  26  :  11).  25.  Of  Putiel  we 
know  nothing  further.  Phinehas  is  the  sixth  (inclusive)  in  descent  from  Levi,  and 
the  seventh  from  Judah.  26-28.  These  are  the  Aaron  and  Moses.  The  design  of  the 
preceding  paragraph  was  to  explain  who  Aaron  and  Moses  were.  They  stand  here  in 
the  order  of  seniority.  At  the  end  of  the  next  verse  they  are  placed  in  the  order  of 
rank.  To  whom  the  Lord  had  said.  This  refers  to  the  commission  he  had  given  to 
them  before  their  first  interview  with  Pharoh.  T7ie.se  are  they  loho  spake  to  Pharoh  in 
the  first  interview,  which  is  recorded  in  the  fifth  chapter.  And  it  was  in  the  day.  This 
was  the  state  of  things  at  the  time.  This  verse  seems  designed  to  date  the  time  when 
the  conjunction  of  circumstances  described  in  the  preceding  passage  regarding  the 
family  of  Moses  had  taken  place.     In  accordance  with  this,  the  closed  section  of  the 


46  MOSES   ENCOURAGED— HIS    GENEALOGY. 

Masoretic  text  terminates  with  this  verse.  The  connection  of  such  a  sentence  with 
the  preceding  context  is  unusual  :  but  it  occurs  in  other  instances  (Deut.  2:16; 
Zech.  6  :  15).  The  phrase  •i^^^  it  came  to  pass  simply  indicates  a  point  of  time  at  which 
a  preceding  period  terminates,  and  the  following  one  begins.  The  prominent  reference 
is  usually  to  the  latter  ;  but  it  may  be  to  the  former  (Gen.  1  :  7,  9,  11,  15,  24,  30). 
Sometimes  the  reference  may  be  equal  to  both  (Gen.  4  : 8). 

29-30.  These  verses  contain  a  recapitulation  of  verses  10-12,  and  therefore 
bring  us  up  in  point  of  time  to  the  beginning  of  verse  13,  which  is  itself  a 
summary  of  what  is  given  in  detail  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  chapter.  The 
first  seven  verses  of  the  seventh  chapter  might  accordingly  be  regarded  as  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  sixth.  But  in  the  existing  arrangement  they  form  an  appropriate  intro- 
duction to  the  record  of  those  ten  strokes  of  judgments  by  which  the  resistance  of 
Egypt  was  broken,  and  the  way  at  length  opened  for  the  departure  of  Israel. 

We  have  now  perused  the  record  of  Israel's  servitude  in  Egypt.  It  runs  parallel  with 
the  early  part  of  the  life  of  the  deliverer,  or  more  precisely  of  Aaron,  his  senior  by  three 
years.  It  commences  probably  with  a  new  dynastj^  in  Egypt,  at  a  time  when  the 
increase  of  the  people  was  so  marked  as  to  become  alarming  to  a  sovereign  not  very 
firmly  seated  on  the  throne,  and  exposed  to  the  hostility  of  neighboring  powers.  His 
policy,  though  it  does  not  keep  down  the  population,  makes  him  aware  of  their  value 
as  servile  laborers.  He  therefore  persists  in  his  arbitrary  course  until  the  cry  of  the 
oppressed  people  reaches  heaven.  The  deliverer  now  appears  ;  but  his  approach  to 
the  monarch  is  only  the  signal  for  a  new  outburst  of  violence  and  oppression,  This 
casts  the  last  shade  of  gloom  and  despondency  over  the  scene. 


SECTION   II.— THE   TEN    PLAGUES. 

V.     THE   FIRST   THREE   PLAGUES.— Ex.  7  :  8-8:9. 

CHAP.    VII. WATER    CHAKGED    INTO    BLOOD. 

9.  p2n  ^^^0  creatwe^  sea-monster,  serpent^  dragon.  It  sometimes  denotes  the 
crocodile,  Isa.  27  :  1  ;  51  :  9.  The  Sept.  give  ('ipuKcjv^  which  we  have  retained  to 
distingiiisli  it  from  ^'(-j  serpent,  which  is  a  species  of  the  more  general  term 
]i3jr^.  The  crocodile  might  be  included  imder  either.  But  the  asp  or  basilisk  is 
more  probable,  though  the  term  employed  is  perhaps  designedly  general. 

11.  rj*^^'^):3  sorcerer,  magician,  enchanter,  one  who  practises  hidden  or  black  arts  ; 
r.  hide.  These  arts  are  called  CtC'n?  ="  C^7  enchantments,  from  ^^^rw  —  lCV  ^^  hid<3. 
AVhether  these  arts  Avere  due  to  the  light  of  experience  or  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness, we  have  not  the  means  of  determining. 

VII.  1.  And  the  Lokd  said  unto  Moses,  See,  I  have  made  thee  a  god  unto  Pliaroh  ; 
and  Aaron  th}^  brother  shall  be  thy  prophet.  2.  Thou  shalt  speak  all  that  I  command 
thee  ;  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  speak  unto  Pharoh,  that  he  send  the  sons  of  Israel 
out  of  his  land.  3.  And  I  will  harden  Pharoh's  heart  ;  and  multiply  my  signs  and 
my  wonders  in  the  land  of  Mizraim.  4.  And  Pharoh  will  not  hearken  iinto  you,  and 
I  v^ill  lay  my  hand  upon  Mizraim  :  and  I  will  bring  forth  my  hosts,  my  people,  the  sons 
of  Israel,  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim  by  great  Judgments.  5.  And  Mizraim  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  stretch  forth  my  hand  upon  Mizraim,  and  bring  out 
the  sons  of  Israel  from  among  them.  6.  And  thus  did  Moses  and  Aaron  ;  as  the  Lord 
commanded  them,  so  did  they.  7.  And  Moses  was  eighty  years  old,  and  Aaron  three 
and  eighty  years  old,  when  they  spake  unto  Pharoh. 

8.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  saying  :  9.  When  Pharoh  shall 
speak  unto  you,  saying,  show  for  you  a  miracle  ;  then  thou  shalt  say  unto  Aaron, 
Take  thy  rod  and  cast  it  before  Pharoh  ;  let  it  become  a  dragon,  10.  And  Moses  and 
Aaron  went  in  unto  Pharoh, -and  did  so  as  the  Lord  had  commanded  ;  and  Aaron 
cast  down  his  rod  before  Pharoh  and  before  his  servants,  and  it  became  a  dragon.  11. 
And  Pharoh  also  called  the  sages  and  the  sorcerers  ;  and  the  scribes  of  Mizraim,  they 
also  did  so  with  their  enchantments.  12.  And  they  cast  down  every  man  his  rod, 
and  they  became  dragons  :  and  Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  their  rods.  13.  And  Pharoh's 
heart  was  hardened,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them,  as  the  Lord  had  spoken.     §  5. 

14.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Pharoh's  heart  is  hard  ;  he  refuseth  to  let  the 
l)eople  go.  15.  Go  unto  Pharoh  in  the  morning  ;  lo,  he  goeth  out  u:nto  the  water,  and 
thou  shalt  stand  to  meet  him  at  the  river's  brink  :  and  the  rod  which  was  turned  to  a  ser- 
pent shalt  thou  take  in  thy  hand.  16.  And  thou  shalt  say  unto  him,  The  Lord,  the  God 
of  the  Hebrews,  hath  sent  me  unto  thee  to  saj'.  Let  my  people  go  and  serve  me  in  the 
wilderness  ;  and  behold  thou  hast  not  hearkened  hitherto.  17.  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
In  this  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  ;  behold  I  smite  with  the  rod  that  is  in  my 
hand  upon  the  water  which  is  in  the  river,  and  it  shall  be  turned  into  blood.  18. 
And  the  fish  that  is  in  the  river  shall  die,  and  the  river  shall  stink  :  and  Mizraim  shall 
loathe  to  drink  the  water  of  the  river.  §  6. 

19.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  say  unto  Aaron,  Take  thy  rod,  and  stretch  out 
thy  hand  upon  the  waters  of  Mizraim,  upon  their  rivers,  upon  their  streams,  and  upon 
their  ponds,  and  upon  every  pool  of  their  waters,  and  they  shall   become  blood  :  and 


48  THE    FIRST    PLAGUE. 

there  sliall  be  blood  in  all  tbe  land  of  Mizraim,  both,  in  wood  and  in  stone.  20.  And 
Moses  and  Aaron  did  so,  as  the  Loed  commanded  ;  and  he  lifted  np  the  rod  and  smote 
the  water  that  was  in  the  river,  in  the  eyes  of  Pharoh,  and  in  the  eyes  of  his  servants  ; 
and  all  the  water  that  was  in  the  river  was  turned  into  blood.  21.  And  the  fish  that 
was  in  the  river  died  ;  and  the  river  stank,  and  Mizraim  could  not  drink  water  from 
the  river  :  and  the  blood  was  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  22.  And  the  scribes  of  Miz- 
raim did  so  with  their  enchantments  :  and  Pharoh's  heart  was  hardened,  neither  did 
he  hearken  unto  them,  as  the  Loed  had  spoken.  23.  And  Pharoh  turned  and  went 
into  his  house,  neither  did  he  set  his  heart  even  to  this.  24.  And  all  Mizraim  digged 
round  about  the  river  for  water  to  drink  ;  for  they  could  not  drink  of  the  water  of  the 
river.     25.  And  seven  days  were  fulfilled,  after  the  Loed  had  smitten  the  river.     If  10. 

The  problem  to  be  solved  in  this  section  is  the  deliverance  of  a  family,  now  grown 
into  a  nation,  who  have  been  unjustly  reduced  to  a  state  of  servitude,  from  a  haughty 
despot  who  finds  his  advantage  in  retaining  them  by  force  in  his  service.  Every  man 
we  have  no  doubt,  thinks  he  can  easily  solve  it  ;  and  the  solution  proposed  by  each 
will  depend  very  much  on  the  character  of  the  individual.  All  men  will  also,  we  con- 
ceive, acknowledge  that  the  omniscient  and  omnipotent  God  could  accomplish  the 
end  in  question  in  a  variety  of  ways,  conceivable  or  inconceivable  by  man.  It  is  cer- 
tain, however,  that  the  all-wise  God  can  and  will  work  this  problem  in  one  way.  This 
will  be  the  best  way.  He  only  knows  what  is  the  best  way  for  all  parties.  He  has 
respect  in  all  his  doings  to  the  best  interests  of  his  rational  creatures.  This  consists 
in  the  perfection  and  culture  of  their  intellectual  and  moral  nature,  as  the  only  solid 
foundation  of  complete  and  perpetual  happiness.  His  method  of  procedure,  there, 
fore,  will  be  exactly  fitted  not  only  to  the  nature  of  man,  the  chief  rational  party  con- 
cerned, in  general,  but  to  the  stage  of  development  to  which  at  the  time  he  has  at_ 
tained.  It  is  true  and  important  in  one  sense  that  God  giveth  not  account  of  any  of 
his  matters  ;  but  it  is  equally  true  and  important  that  he  takes  account  of  all  matters 
whatsoever  in  all  his  proceedings.  Hence  he  has  regard  to  Israel,  to  Egypt,  to  Kenaan, 
and  to  the  whole  human  race  in  the  manner  in  which  he  meets  this  great  emergency. 
He  has  in  view  the  present  state  of  these  parties,  and  adapts  his  measures  to  their 
instruction  in  spiritual  things  according  to  their  several  attainments  in  mental  and 
moral  truth.  The  result  of  the  divine  wisdom  is  the  best  plan  of  delivering  Israel 
from  Egypt,  which  is  accordingly  carried  into  effect,  and  is  here  delineated  for  our 
learning.  Let  us  enter  upon  the  study  of  it,  hoping  to  be  illuminated  ourselves  with 
many  rays  of  that  light  which  then  broke  upon  the  minds  of  Israel  and  his  contempo- 
raries. 

"We  have  already  read  the  instructive  account  of  the  appointment  of  Moses  to  be  the 
prime  minister  of  Heaven  in  this  great  movement,  and  the  deferential  respect  with 
which  his  credentials  have  been  received  by  the  people.  Accompanied  by  the  elders 
of  Israel,  he  has  approached  Pharoh,  and  presented  the  authoritative  message  of  the 
God  of  heaven  and  earth,  requiring  him  to  let  Israel  go  and  keep  a  feast  to  the  Lord. 
In  these  facts  we  have  striking  instances  of  God's  manner  of  proceeding.  He  does  not 
appoint  a  servant  without  removing  all  his  difficulties,  and  affording  him  the  fullest 
instructions.  He  does  not  take  a  step  in  the  emancipation  of  the  people  without 
obtaining  their  acceptance  of  the  leader"  he  has  chosen  and  their  concurrence  in  the 
measures  he  has  devised.  And,  notwithstanding  the  absence  of  all  equity,  as  well  as 
gratitude,  in  the  manner  in  which  the  Pharohs  had  degraded  into  serfs  the  free  kins- 
men of  Joseph,  he  opens  the  negotiations  with  the  reigning  sovereign  by  a  simple  and 
moderately  worded,  yet  firm  and  frank,  demand  of  the  release  of  his  people  for  the 


EXODUS  VII.  1-7.  49 

immediate  purpose  of  a  religious  festival.  It  is  obvious  that  so  mild  a  request,  so 
limited  in  its  terms,  in  circumstances  of  so  grave  injustice,  coming  from  the  most  high 
God,  could  not  have  been  rejected  by  a  right-minded  man.  Inquiries  might  have 
been  made,  difficulties  started,  and  claims  advanced,  if  there  had  been  any  ;  and  these 
would  have  been  all  reasonably  and  satisfactorily  met.  And  thus  a  negotiation 
opened  with  forbearance  and  carried  on  with  equity  would  have  terminated  in  a  peace- 
ful and  amicable  settlement.  Such  is  the  beginning  of  God's  method  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  his  people  from  Egypt. 

But  upon  the  proud  and  arrogant  mind  of  Pharoh  this  temperate  dealing  has  an  op- 
posite effect.  He  breaks  out  into  instant  defiance  of  God,  contempt  of  his  ministers, 
and  revenge  upon  his  people.  His  heart,  practised  in  the  arts  of  tyranny,  gains  a 
new  degree  of  obstinacy  from  its  violent  recoil  against  this  modest  and  seemingly 
feeble  whisper  of  the  bond-slave's  God.  With  unaffected  simplicity  the  sacred  histo- 
rian records  the  disastrous  consequences  of  Pharoh' s  indignation  on  the  people  and 
their  officers,  and  the  sad  shock  it  gave  to  their  infant  faith.  This  was,  no  doubt, 
very  painful  to  endure  and  pitiful  to  contemplate.  But  it  had  its  pregnant  and  salu- 
tary lessons,  and  he  who  has  looked  into  the  after  history  of  this  people  will  be  per- 
suaded that  this  and  many  subsequent  correctives  were  absolutely  necessary  to  bring 
them  to.  that  depth  of  piety,  strength  of  principle,  and  decision  of  character  which 
conferred  a  moral  dignity  on  the  nation,  the  traces  of  which  are  still  to  be  found  in 
the  remnant  of  Israel.  _ 

Even  Moses  himself  is  disappointed  by  the  failure  of  his  first  attempt,  and  distressed 
by  the  anguish  and  despondency  of  the  people.  Accordingly  the  Lord,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  this  chapter,  opens  up  to  him  a  new  and  cheering  view  of  his  relation  to  Pha- 
roh, and  sends  him  again  to  him  with  the  miraculous  authentication  of  his  mission. 
This  second  effort  of  the  divine  forbearance  is  also  disregarded  by  the  infatuated  king. 
Only  on  the  third  appearance  of  Moses  before  Pharoh  is  he  authorized  to  announce 
and  inflict  the  first  plague  or  stroke  of  judgment  upon  the  recusant  monarch. 

1-7.  This  passage  is  the  expansion  of  vs.  13  of  the  previous  chapter.  A  new  and 
encouraging  view  of  his  relation  to  Pharoh  is  here  presented  to  Moses,  inducing  him 
to  enter  with  a  willing  and  intelligent  interest  into  the  divine  mission  with  which  he 
has  been  intrusted.  A  God  unto  Pharoh.  What  God  was  to  Moses  in  point  of  instruc- 
tion, that  Moses  was  to  be  to  Aaron  (4  :  16)  ;  and  what  God  was  to  him  in  respect  of 
power,  that  he  was  now  to  be  to  Pharoh.  He  was  to  be  the  revealer  of  the  divine  will 
to  Aaron  ;  the  executor  of  the  divine  will  on  Pharoh,  God  puts  his  servant  in  a  satis- 
factory position  toward  the  adversary  he  has  to  encounter  ;  and  henceforth  he  pro- 
ceeds without  faltering  to  carry  out  the  divine  intentions.  And  Aaron  shall  he  thy 
prophet.  A  prophet  is  God's  spokesman,  uttering  a  message  or  a  prayer  by  his 
authority  (Gen.  20  :  7).  Such  is  Aaron  to  be  to  Moses,  as  explained  in  the  following 
verse.  The  plenipotentiary  of  heaven  is  now  amply  furnished  for  his  great  undertak- 
ing. 3.  And  I  will  harden  Pharoh' s  heart.  We  have  seen  the  process  already  begun. 
The  very  patience  and  moderation  which  were  calculated  to  subdue  a  will  amenable 
to  reason,  only  aroused  the  resistance  and  vengeance  of  Pharoh.  Every  succeeding 
step  in  the  procedure  of  God  is  dictated  by  a  like  consideration  and  forbearance. 
Though  it  be  true,  therefore,  that  God  did  harden  Pharoh' s  heart,  yet  it  was  by  meas- 
ures that  would  have  disarmed  the  opposition  and  commanded  the  acquiescence  of  an. 
upright  mind.  4.  /  will  lay  my  hand  upon  Mizraim,  because  Pharoh  is  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Egyptians,  because  they  concur  in  his  sentiments,  and  because,,  even  when. 


50  THE   FIRST   PLAGUE. 

they  do  not  concur,  they  do  not  actively  dissent  from  his  intentions.  Thus  nations 
share  the  guilt,  and  therefore  the  punishment,  of  their  erring  sovereigns.  Moreover, 
God  will  touch  the  consciences  of  the  nation  in  this  high  controversy,  and  awaken 
within  them  that  fear  of  God  which  ought  to  regulate  and  set  bounds  to  the  fear  of 
their  earthly  king  (vs.  5).  I  will  bring  forth  my  hosts.  The  hosts  of  the  Lord  they  were 
in  a  literal  sense,  and  a  stern  work  they  had  to  perform  in  the  beginning  of  their 
career.  Yet  they  gradually  rose  to  a  higher  form  of  warfare,  in  which  they  were  des- 
tined, yet  with  many  auxiliaries,  to  endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  the  Messiah. 
The  term  hosts,  however,  is  significant  even  here.  It  points  to  the  fact  that  the  sons  of 
Israel  are  to  march  out  of  Egypt  in  battle  array,  apart  from  the  women,  children,  cat- 
tle, and  baggage  (13  :  18).  5.  And  Mizraim  shall  know.  They  shall  find  by  experience, 
whether  they  take  the  lesson  to  heart  or  not.  That  I amiheLord.  That  great  master- 
truth  of  all  theology,  that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  is  the  one  true  and  living  God,  the 
founder  and  mover  of  heaven  and  earth.  The  nations  have  inherited  the  vague  notion 
of  God,  indeed,  from  their  common  father  ;  but  they  have  essentially  corrupted  it,  so 
that  their  gods  are  no  longer  the  true  God  at  all,  but  only  a  baseless  phantom  of  their 
imagination.  They  have  lost  the  historical  connection  with  the  God  of  their  remote 
ancestry.  In  the  one  line  of  Israel,  through  the  providence  of  God,  has  the  historical 
revelation  of  God  been  preserved  pure  and  entire.  This  would  have  been  Egypt's 
day  of  grace,  if  the  nation  had  onlj"  fully  accepted  this  one  lesson,  "  I  am  the  Lord  "  ; 
but  it  became  #  day  of  judgment  on  account  of  its  rejection,  and  this  day  continued, 
until  salvation  began  to  go  forth  from  Jerusalem.  6.  And  thus  did  Moses  and  Aaron. 
There  is  henceforward  a  prompt  and  constant  obedience  to  the  divine  command,  with 
the  exception  of  certain  grave  inadvertencies  into  which  they  are  betrayed  by  the 
remaining  infirmities  of  the  old  man.  7.  A7id  Moses  was  eighty  years  old.  We  are  now 
arrived  at  the  point  we  had  reached  in  the  summary  of  6  :  13.  It  is  in  place  to  state 
the  ages  of  the  two  brothers.  As  no  mention  is  made  of  any  difficulty  in  saving  Aaron 
when  an  infant,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  edict  about  the  execution  of  the  male  in- 
fants, by  casting  them  into  the  Nile,  was  published  after  his  birth,  and  in  fact  very 
shortly  before  the  birth  of  Moses.  Eighty  years  may  seem  a  ripe  age  for  entering  upon 
an  arduous  enterprise  ;  but  all  the  ancestors  of  Moses  lived  beyond  the  age  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  years,  so  that  eighty  was  not  more  in  proportion  than  forty  would 
be  now.  This  is  the  proper  close  of  the  paragraph  beginning  with  the  genealogy 
(6  :  14),  and,  therefore,  after  having  expanded  6  :  13  in  the  previous  passage,  the  writer 
is  prepared  to  go  on  with  the  main  line  of  the  narrative. 

8-13.  Moses  now  understands  the  position  of  advantage  in  which  the  Lord  has  put 
him,  and  is  emboldened  to  appear  the  second  time  before  Pharoh.  Having  armed  his 
servant  with  miraculous  powers  so  that  he  is  a  god  to  Pharoh,  the  Lord  makes  a  sec- 
ond overture  to  the  haughty  monarch.  Let  it  become  a  dragon.  The  more  general  word 
p^p  is  here  employed  instead  of  serpent  (4  :  3),  simply  because  this  is  not  precisely 
the  same  sign  that  was  shown  to  Moses  in  the  mount  of  God.  The  latter  was  to  be 
exhibited  before  the  people  for  their  conviction  (4  : 1-5).  The  wonders  to  be  done  be- 
fore Pharoh  (4  :  21-23)  were  not  the  same,  though  two  of  them  were  similar,  and  seem 
to  have  included  all  the  plagues  which  were  afterward  wrought  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 
The  dragon  is  here,  therefore,  a  different  species  of  the  serpent  kind  from  that  which 
appeared  before  the  Israelites.  The  kind  of  animal  on  each  occasion  is  that  which 
would  be  most  significant  to  the  party  concerned.  The  serpent  would  recall  to  Israel 
the  serpent  in  Eden.     The  tannin,  here  rendered  dragon,   after  the  Septuagint,  may 


EXODUS  VII.  14-24.  51' 

have  been  the  asp  or  basilisk,  which  was  the  emblem  of  royalty,  or  some  other  species 
of  serpent  equally  significant  to  Pharoh  and  to  Egypt.  The  sages  and  the  sorcerers  ;■ 
and  the  scribes.  The  sages  and  scribes  were  summoned  to  Pharoh  in  the  time  of 
Joseph  (Gen.  41  : 8).  It  is  probable  that  the  scribes,  or  hieroglyphs,  included  all  the 
classes  of  sages,  and  that  the  sages  included  the  sorcerers.  They  also  did  so  with  their 
enchantments.  It  is  certain  that  the  charming  of  serpents  has  been  long  practised  in 
Egypt  and  adjacent  countries.  The  serpent  called  hage  by  the  Arabs,  apparentlj^  the 
asp,  can  be  made  to  appear  as  dead  or  rigid  as  a  stick,  and  of  course  restored  to  its 
natural  state  again.  Now  the  Scripture  does  not  care  to  determine  whether  a  given 
work  be  done  by  natural  or  preternatural  means.  It  grants  merely  that  the  thing  in 
question  has  been  done,  when  it  is  professed  and  appears  to  have  been  done.  It  does 
not  concern  the  sacred  writer  or  his  readers  how  the  impression  was  made  on  the 
senses,  but  only  that  in  fact  it  was  made.  And  Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  their  rods. 
This  was  a  plain  and  palpable  proof  that  the  presence  and  power  of  God  were  with 
Moses.  It  may  occur  to  the  mind  that  it  would  have  been  as  effectual  a  mode  of  con- 
vincing Pharoh  to  have  restrained  his  magicians  from  playing  their  part  before  him. 
And  undoubtedly  the  Almighty  could  have  done  so.  But  it  is  not  his  way  to  interfere 
by  physical  force  with  the  free  agency  of  his  responsible  creatures  (see  Gen.  3  : 1-7). 
If  it  had,  he  would  have  restrained  Satan  from  entertaining  the  intention  of  resisting 
his  Maker,  or  at  least  from  afterward  intruding  into  the  garden  of  Eden  ;  and  he  would 
have  withheld  the  woman's  hand  and  desire  from  the  fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree,  and 
so  actual  sin  might  never  have  entered  into  heaven  or  earth.  But  where  would  have 
been  free-agency,  or  by  what  means  would  the  existence  of  creature  morality  have 
been  known  ?  Let  us  not  imagine,  therefore,  that  even  in  this  small  matter  we  can 
amend  God's  mode  of  procedure.  And  PharoKs  heart  was  hardened.  It  is  plain  that 
Pharoh  had  deluded  himself  by  means  of  his  magicians  into  the  fancy  that  Moses  is 
only  a  more  skilful  magician  than  his  own.  He  attaches  no  proper  weight  to  the  dis- 
appearance of  their  rods,  which  was  the  testing  miracle.  As  the  Lord  had  spoken.  It 
is  the  prerogative  of  the  Omniscient  to  predict  the  conduct  of  men.  Though  we  can- 
not explain  this  mystery,  yet  from  the  known  character  of  a  man  we  can  sometimes 
make  a  shrewd  guess  at  the  way  in  which  he  will  act  in  given  circumstances. 

The  interview  with  the  people,  the  first  appearance  before  Pharoh,  the  two  days 
after  which  the  officers  were  beaten,  the  second  interview  with  the  people,  and  the 
second  with  Pharoh,  cannot  have  occupied  less  than  seven  days,  and  therefore  bring 
us  to  the  20th  of  January,  or  thereabout. 

14-24.  This  second  appeal  having  failed  to  make  any  impression  on  the  neart  of 
Pharoh,  the  Lord,  as  a  third  and  last  resort,  directs  Moses  to  the  infliction  of  the  first 
of  a  series  of  judicial  strokes,  increasing  in  intensity  of  effect,  by  which  the  refractory 
monarch  is  at  length  compelled  to  let  the  people  go.  The  Jewish  Kabbis  have  not 
been  slow  to  observe  the  regular  order  in  which  these  successive  strokes  are  arranged, 
and  the  gradual  advance  which  they  make  from  the  external  to  the  internal,  and 
from  the  mediate  to  the  immediate  hand  of  God.  They  are  in  number  ten  ;  which  is 
one  of  the  numbers  denoting  perfection.  They  are  divided  first  into  nine  and  one  ; 
the  last  one  standing  clearly  apart  from  all  the  others,  in  the  awful  shriek  of  woe 
which  it  draws  forth  from  every  Egyptian  home.  The  nine  are  arranged  in  threes. 
In  the  first  of  each  three  the  w^arning  is  given  to  Pharoh  in  the  morning  (7:15;  8  :  20  ; 
9  :  13).  In  the  first  and  second  of  each  three,  the  plague  is  announced  beforehand 
(8  : 1  ;  9  : 1  ;  10  : 1),  in  the  third  not  (8  :  IG  ;  9  :  8  ;  10  :  21).     At  the  third  the  magicians 


5^  THE   FIRST   PLAGUE. 

of  Pharoli  acknowledge  the  anger  of  God  (8  :  19),  at  the  sixth  they  cannot  stand  before 
Moses  (9  :  11),  and  at  the  ninth  Pharoh  refuses  to  see  the  face  of  Moses  any  more 
(10  :  28).  In  the  first  three  Aaron  uses  the  rod  ;  in  the  second  three  it  is  not  men- 
tioned ;  in  the  third  three  Moses  uses  it,  though  in  the  last  of  them  only  his  hand  is 
mentioned.  All  these  marks  of  order  lie  on  the  face  of  the  narrative,  and  point  to  a 
deeper  order  of  nature  and  reason  out  of  which  they  spring. 

The  gradation  in  the  severity  of  these  strokes  is  no  less  obvious.  In  the  first  three 
no  distinction  is  made  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  ;  in  the  remaining  seven  a 
distinction  is  made  between  the  Israelites,  who  are  shielded  from,  and  the  Egyptians, 
who  are  exposed  to,  the  stroke.  In  these  seven  which  are  peculiar  to  the  Egyptians, 
the  order  is  the  reverse  of  that  in  the  work  of  creation.  Three  refer  to  the  animal 
creation,  and  three  to  the  vegetable  world,  the  support  of  animal  life.  The  last  of 
these  six  is  darkness,  the  opposite  of  light,  the  product  of  the  first  day  ;  and  the 
seventh  is  death.  The  first  three  affect  the  health  and  comfort  of  man  ;  the  next  three 
take  away  the  staff  of  life  ;  then  comes  death  itself,  and  the  work  of  destruction  is 
complete. 

To  understand  the  deep  import  of  the  conflict  between  us,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that* 
now  for  the  first  time  since  the  dispersion  of  mankind  the  opposition  between  the 
children  of  God  and  the  children  of  disobedience  is  coming  out  into  broad  daylight. 
Egypt,  that  was  the  kind  fosterer  of  the  chosen  family,  has  now  become  the  persecutor 
of  Israel,  and  the  avowed  antagonist  of  God.  The  present  struggle  is  therefore  no  raid 
for  the  gathering  of  booty,  nor  encounter  between  two  rival  nations,  nor  expedition 
for  the  selfish  ends  of  an  earthly  ambition.  It  is  the  controversy  between  light  and 
darkness,  in  which  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth  manifests  his  presence  and  power  on 
behalf  of  his  people  and  against  the  defiant  nation.  This  nation  is  for  the  time  being 
the  representative  of  all  heathendom,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  the  prince  of  darkness  ; 
and  the  battle  now  fought  is  the  model  and  tj^pe  of  all  future  warfare  between  the 
seed  of  the  woman  and  the  seed  of  the  serpent.  Hence  it  rises  to  a  transcendent  im- 
portance in  the  ways  of  God  with  man,  and  fitly  holds  a  place  even  in  the  preface  to 
the  ten  commandments  (20  :  2). 

14-18.  The  announcement  of  the  first  plague.  Pharoh' s  heart  is  hard,  heavy  ("jn^), 
stupid  and  insensible  to  right  reason  and  the  real  state  of  things.  In  the  preceding 
verse  it  was  described  as  hard,  firm  (nifj'')'  obstinate,  and  inflexible  in  its  own  selfish 
purpose.  In  the  third  verse  of  this  chapter  we  find  another  word  (ntS'p)'  rendered 
hard,  applied  to  the  heart,  having  the  sense  of  obdurate,  steeled  against  every  tendei 
or  unselfish  feeling.  We  have  only  the  one  equivalent  for  all  these  terms.  Go  unto 
Fharoh  in  the  morning.  It  appears  that  Pharoh  was  wont  to  be  out  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  in  the  morning,  either  for  an  airing,  or  to  bathe  in  its  waters.  He  could  scarcely 
be  supposed  to  visit  the  magnificent  river  without  presenting  to  it  some  form  of  ado- 
ration. To  the  Nile  Egypt  owed  its  soil  and  its  fertility.  The  inhabitants  esteemed 
its  waters  the  most  delicious  beverage,  regarded  itself  as  the  source  of  life  and  pros- 
perity to  the  nation,  and  soon  began  to  venerate  it  as  the  deity  of  their  land,  identical 
vnth  Osiris  and  Apis,  Eoyalty  would  feel  itself  specially  attracted  by  such  a  divinity, 
and  bound  to  take  a  leading  part  in  its  worship.  At  this  river's  brink,  therefore,  was 
the  fit  place  to  meet  Pharoh.  The  rod  which  was  turned  into  a  serpent,  was  the  wand  of 
power  by  which  Moses  was  distinguished  as  the  minister  of  heaven.  The  Loed,  This 
is  the  name  of  present  and  active  power,  by  which  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  is  now  to 
be  practically  signalized.     Pharoh  is  reminded  of  the  divine  message,  and  of  its  re- 


EXODUS  VII.  19-24.  53 

jection  by  him.  17.  In  this  thou  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  Pharoh  is  to  know,  at 
least  experimentally,  if  not  submissively  and  penitently,  that  grand  sentence,  "  I  am 
the  Lord."  Behold  I  smite.  This  was  to  take  place  immediately,  in  the  very  presence 
of  Pharoh.  The  water  which  is  in  the  river,  that  very  river  which  was  the  object  of  all 
Egypt' s  praise  and  veneration  !  And  it  shall  he  turned  into  blood,  blood  poured  out,  and 
therefore  dead,  and  spreading  death  instead  of  diffusing  life.  Hence  the  fish  shall 
die,  and  the  river  become  putrid  and  loathsome  to  the  smell  and  the  taste.  This  was 
sufficient  to  show,  if  it  was  necessary,  that  the  Nile  was  not  a  god,  but  a  mere  inani- 
mate creature. 

19-24.  The  fulfilment  now  follows.  Say  unto  Aaron.  Pharoh  is  to  learn  the  dignity 
of  Moses,  who  commands  Aaron  his  prophet  to  execute  this  miracle,  and  thus  Moses 
is  a  god  to  Pharoh.  Take  thy  rod.  This  is  the  rod  of  Moses  (vs.  15)  which  Aaron  bears. 
Upon  their  rivers.  These  appear  to  be  the  arms  or  mouths  into  which  the  Nile  sepa- 
rates itself  in  the  Delta,  of  which  there  were  anciently  seven.  They  are  called  "  their 
rivers,"  that  is,  those  of  Egypt,  which  is  here  a  collective  noun  denoting  the  nation. 
Their  streams  {6i6pvyaS  Sept.)  are  the  canals  by  which  the  land  was  irrigated.  Their 
ponds  are  the  marshy  lakes,  such  as  Moeris  and  Mareotis.  And  every  pool,  every  small 
collection  or  reservoir  for  private  or  special  use.  In  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  not  only 
in  the  river  and  all  its  connected  waters,  but  in  the  land,  that  is,  as  explained,  in  all 
cisterns,  whether  of  wood  or  stone,  for  the  filtration  or  preservation  of  the  water. 
20.  In  the  eyes  of  Pharoh,  and  of  his  servants.  A  retinue  of  his  courtiers  was  present 
on  the  occasion,  including  priests  and  magicians.  And  all  the  water  was  turned  into 
hlood.  The  Nile  begins  to  rise  about  the  end  of  June,  and  attains  its  highest  point  at 
the  end  of  September.  About  the  commencement  of  the  rise  it  assumes  a  greenish 
hue,  is  disagreeable  to  the  taste,  unwholesome,  and  often  totally  unfit  for  drinking. 
It  soon,  however,  becomes  red  and  turbid,  and  continues  in  this  state  for  three  or 
more  weeks.  In  this  condition  it  is  again  healthy  and  fit  for  use.  The  miracle  now 
performed  was  totally  different  from  this  annual  change.  For  (1)  it  occurred  after  the 
winter,  not  the  summer,  solstice  ;  (2)  the  water  was  turned  into  blood,  and  not  merely 
reddened  by  an  admixture  of  red  clay  or  animalcula  ;  (3)  the  fish  died,  a  result  which 
did  not  follow  from  the  periodical  change  of  color  ;  (4)  the  river  stank,  and  became 
offensive,  which  it  ceased  to  be  when  the  ordinary  redness  made  its  appearance  ;  (5) 
the  stroke  was  arrested  at  the  end  of  seven  days,  whereas  the  natural  redness  continued 
for  at  least  three  weeks  ;  and  (6)  the  change  was  brought  on  instantly  at  the  word  of 
command  before  the  eyes  of  Pharoh.  The  calamity  was  appalling.  The  sweet  waters 
of  the  Nile  were  the  common  beverage  of  Egypt.  It  abounded  in  all  kinds  of  fish, 
which  formed  a  principal  article  of  diet  for  the  inhabitants.  It  was  revered  as  a  god 
by  Egypt.  But  now  it  was  a  putrid  flood,  from  which  they  turned  away  with  loath- 
ing. And  the  scribes  of  Mizraim  did  so  with  their  enchantments.  It  has  been  asked  where 
they  got  the  water.  "We  read  (in  verse  24)  that  "  all  Mizraim  digged  round  about  the 
river  for  water  to  drink."  We  have  no  doubt  the  hieroglyphs  of  Pharoh  had  wit 
enough  to  make  the  same  experiment.  The  natives  of  a  country  in  which  the  only 
river  becomes  periodically  unfit  for  drinking  would  not  be  unfamiliar  with  the  expedi- 
ent of  digging  for  water  when  the  ordinary  supply  failed.  These  miracle-mongers 
confine  themselves  to  the  safe  experiment  of  imitating  on  a  small  scale  the  work  of  God's 
servants.  It  would  have  been  a  clear  demonstration  of  their  superiority  if  they 
had  countermanded  the  order  of  Moses,  and  converted  the  morbid  mass  into  a  limpid 
stream.     This  was  what  Egypt  needed.     Their  trick  was  but  a  wretched  mockery  of 


5,4  THE    PLAGUE    OF    FROGS. 

lielp.  23.  Neither  did  he  set  his  heart  even  to  this.  When  the  will  is  strongly  bent  upon 
a  foregone  conclusion,  a  very  small  show  of  proof  will  beget  conviction.  The  hiero- 
glyphs managed  to  exhibit  the  appearance  at  least  of  changing  a  little  v/ater  into 
blood.  The  headstrong  monarch  is  confirmed  in  his  resolve,  and  returns  unmoved  by 
Egypt's  misery  to  his  home.  25.  And  seven  days  were  fulfilled.  The  "  smiting"  of  the 
river  was  not  a  momentary  act,  but  a  process  that  lasted  for  seven  days,  and  then  was 
remitted.  This  carries  us  on  to  about  the  27th  of  January.  We  are  not  informed 
what  length  of  time  was  occupied  with  the  other  plagues  ;  but  it  will  serve  the  purpose 
of  order  and  clearness  to  suppose  that  seven  days  elapsed  during  the  course  of  each 
of  the  seven  following. 

This  miracle  was  not  merely  a  judicial,  but  a  significant  act.  It  marks  the  retribu- 
tion of  heaven.  Pharoh  orders  the  male  infants  of  the  Hebrews  to  be  cast  into  the 
river,  that  they  might  perish  there,  and  become  food  for  its  fish.  That  very  river  is 
changed  into  a  stream  of  death.  It  displays  also  the  folly  of  creature-worship. 
Pharoh  adores  the  life-sustaining  power  of  nature,  as  embodied  in  the  majestic  river 
before  him.  The  God  of  nature  transforms  the  running  water  into  a  river  of  death 
before  his  eyes.  It  demonstrates,  in  the  way  that  was  most  striking  to  the  Hebrew  and 
the  Egyptian,  that  the  God  of  Israel  was  the  true  and  only  God  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  that  all  other  objects  of  worship  were  but  the  creatures  of  God  or  the  works  of 
men's  hands. 

The  next  four  verses  of  the  Hebrew  text,  appended  in  Van  der  Hooght's  edition  to 
this  chapter,  are  here,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  transferred  to  the  beginning  of  the 
next  chapter,  in  accordance  with  a  considerable  number  of  mss.  and  some  early  ver- 
sions, including  the  Vulgate.  This  arrangement  of  the  text  is  adopted  in  Walton's 
Poly^ott  and  the  English  Version. 


VI.     THE   SECOISD   THREE  PLAGUES.— Ex.  8  :  20-9  :  12. 

CHAP.    VIII. — THE   PLAGUES   OF    (2)   FROGS,    (3)   LICE,    AND    (4)    FLIES. 

9.  "^i-^Cnn-  This  form  elsewhere  denotes  to  glory  or  vaunt  one^s  self.  Here, 
however,  the  Sept.  gives  ra^di,  the  Vulg.  constitue,  and  the  Targum  of  Onke- 
los,  "  set  thou  a  time. "  The  former  meaning  must,  in  the  present  passage,  be 
taken  in  a  pregnant  sense,  and  include  the  latter.  The  radical  signification  of 
the  verb,  namely,  to  be  'bright,  clear^  however,  will  naturally  yield  the  latter  as  a 
seftondary  meaning. 

16.  C33  ^33  ^*'^^-  In  the  Talmud  n33 «  louse.  The  Jewish  interpreters 
(including  Onkelos  and  Josephus),  the  Syriac,  the  Arabic,  and  the  Talmud,  give 
thib  meaning,  which  is  supported  by  Bochart.  The  Sept.  gives  gkvI(PeS,  which 
Gesenius  and  others  take  to  mean  gnats.  But  Kuvuf  or  i/uriS  is  the  gnat.  The 
cKvli)  is  said  to  be  an  ant  that  preys  on  figs,  or  an  insect  that  lives  under  the 
barh  of  trees.  Either  of  these  bears  more  analogy  to  the  louse  than  to  the  gnat  or 
mosquito.  The  louse  is  also  found  "  on  men  and  beasts,"  while  the  gnat  flies  in 
the  air.  The  former  is  also  more  clearly  distinguished  from  the  nny  than  the 
latter. 

21.   ;2"iy  fly-     The  Sept.  gives  Kwofivia,  dog-Jiy ;   Aquila  nu/ifivca^  all  hinds  of 


EXODL'S   VIII.  •  00 

flies.  It  seems  probable  that  as  the  n33  is  a  parasitical  animal  without  wings, 
so  the  2-;y  is  a  fly  that  has  a  long  proboscis,  piercing  the  skin,  sucking  the  bloody 
and  leaving  a  painful  and  highly  inflamed  w^ound.  It  may  derive  its  name  from  ' 
^-^y  the  evening,  when  it  becomes  most  troublesome,  or  from  2~iy  ^^  ^^^^i  because 
the  whole  class  of  flies  is  included.  Kalisch  is  strongly  in  favor  of  the  beetle 
{Blatta  Orientalis)  ;  but  this  does  not  attack  men.  In  the  absence  of  any  very 
distinct  aid  from  usage,  the  word  being  found  only  in  this  passage  and  in  Ps. 
78  :  45  ;  105  :  31,  it  seems  better  to  adhere  to  the  generic  term,  fly,  which  accords 
best  with  all  the  circumstances  noted.  It  fastens  on  man,  enters  houses,  and 
infests  fields. 

VIII.  1.  And  the  Lokd  said  unto  Moses,  Go  in  to  Pharoh,  and  say  unto  him,  Thus 
saith  the  Lokd,  Let  my  people  go  and  serve  me.  2.  And  if  thou  refuse  to  let  them  go, 
behold,  I  will  smite  all  thy  border  with  frogs.  3.  And  the  river  shall  swarm  with 
frogs,  and  they  shall  come  up,  and  go  in  to  thy  house,  and  to  thy  sleepmg-room,  and 
upon  thy  bed,  and  into  the  house  of  thy  servants,  and  on  thy  people,  and  into  thine 
ovens,  and  into  thy  kneading-troughs,  4.  And  on  thee  and  on  thy  people  and  on  all 
thy  servants  shall  the  frogs  come  up.  5.  And  the  Lokd  said  unto  Moses,  Say  unto 
Aaron,  Stretch  forth  thy  hand,  with  thy  rod,  over  the  rivers  and  over  the  streams  and 
over  the  ponds,  and  bring  up  the  frogs  upon  the  land  of  Mizraim.  6,  And  Aaron 
stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the  waters  of  Mizraim,  and  the  frogs  came  up  and  covered 
the  land  of  Mizraim.  7.  And  the  scribes  did  so  with  their  enchantments,  and  brought 
up  frogs  upon  the  land  of  Mizraim. 

8.  And  Pharoh  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  Entreat  the  Loed  and  let  him  take  away 
the  frogs  from  me  and  from  my  people  ;  and  I  will  let  the  people  go  and  sacrifice  unto 
the  Lokd.  9.  And  Moses'said  unto  Pharoh,  Prescribe  imto  me  when  I  shall  entreat 
for  thee  and  for  thy  servants  and  for  thy  people,  to  cut  off  the  frogs  from  thee  and  thy 
houses  :  only  in  the  river  shall  they  remain.  10.  And  he  said,  To-morrow.  And  he 
said,  Be  it  according  to  thy  word  ;  that  thou  mayest  know  that  there  is  none  like  unto 
the  Lord  our  God.  11.  And  the  frogs  shall  depart  from  thee,  and  from  thy  houses, 
and  from  thy  servants,  and  from  thy  people  ;  only  in  the  river  shall  they  remain. 
12.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  out  from  Pharoh  ;  and  Moses  cried  unto  the  Loed  on 
account  of  the  frogs  which  he  had  brought  on  Pharoh.  13.  And  the  Lord  did  accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  Moses  :  and  the  frogs  died  out  of  the  houses,  out  of  the  courts,  and 
out  of  the  fields.  14.  And  they  gathered  them  together  in  heaps  ;  and  the  land  stank. 
15.  And  Pharoh  saw  that  there  was  respite  ;  and  he  hardened  his  heart  and  hearkened 
not  unto  them,  as  the  Lord  had  spoken.  §  6. 

16.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Say  unto  Aaron,  Stretch  forth  thy  rod,  and 
smite  the  dust  of  the  land,  and  it  shall  become  lice  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim.  17. 
And  they  did  so  :  and  Aaron  stretched  out  his  hand,  with  his  rod,  and  smote  the  dust 
of  the  land,  and  it  became  lice  on  man  and  on  beast  :  all  the  dust  of  the  land  became 
lice  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim.  18.  And  the  scribes  did  so  with  their  enchantments 
to  bring  forth  the  lice,  and  could  not  :  and  the  lice  were  on  man  and  on  beast. 
19.  And  the  scribes  said  unto  Pharoh,  This  is  the  finger  of  God.  And  Pharoh's  heart 
was  hardened,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them,  as  the  Lord  had  spoken.  §  7. 

20.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Bise  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  stand  before 
Pharoh  ;  lo,  he  cometh  forth  to  the  water  :  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
Let  ray  people  go  and  serve  me.  21.  For  if  thou  wilt  not  let  my  people  go,  behold  I 
send  upon  thee,  and  upon  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy  people,  and  into  thy  houses  the 
fly  ;  and  the  houses  of  Mizraim  shall  be  full  of  the  fly,  and  even  the  ground  whereon 
thej^  are.  22.  And  I  will  sever  in  that  day  that  land  of  Goshen,  on  which  my  people 
stand,  that  the  fly  may  not  be  there  ;  that  thou  mayest  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  the  land.  23.  And  I  will  put  a  division  between  my  people  and  thy 
people  :  to-morrow  shall  this  sign  be.  24.  And  the  Lord  did  so,  and  there  came  a 
grievous  fly  into  Pharoh's  house  and  the  house  of  his  servants  ;  and  in  all  the  land  of 
Mizraim  the  land  was  destroyed  by  reason  of  the  fly. 

25.  And  Pharoh  called  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  said.  Go  ye,  sacrifice  to  your  God  in  the 


56  THE    PLAGL^E    OF   FROGS. 

land.  26.  And  Moses  said,  It  is  not  meet  so  to  do  ;  for  we  shall  sacrifice  the  abomi- 
nation of  Mizraim  to  the  Lord  onr  God  :  lo,  we  shall  sacrifice  the  abomination  of 
Mizraim  before  their  eyes,  and  will  they  not  stone  us  ?  27.  We  will  go  three  days' 
journey  into  the  wilderness,  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lobd  our  God,  as  he  shall  say  unto 
us.  28.  And  Pharoh  said,  I  will  let  you  go  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lokd  your  God  in  the 
wilderness  ;  only  ye  shall  not  go  very  far  away  :  entreat  for  me.  29.  And  Moses  said. 
Behold,  I  go  out  from  thee  and  entreat  the  Lord,  and  the  fly  shall  depart  from  Pha- 
roh, from  his  servants,  and  from  his  people  to-morrow  :  only  let  not  Pharoh  deal 
falsely  any  more,  not  to  let  the  people  go  to  sacrifice  to  the  Lobd.  30.  And  Moses 
went  out  from  Pharoh,  and  entreated  the  Lokd.  31.  And  the  Lord  did  according  to 
the  word  of  Moses,  and  removed  the  fly  from  Pharoh,  from  his  servants,  and  from  his 
people  :  not  one  remained.  32.  And  Pharoh  hardened  his  heart  at  this  time  also  ; 
neither  did  he  let  the  people  go.  TF  H- 

In  this  chapter  we  have  the  plagues  of  the  frogs,  the  lice,  and  the  fly  grouped 
together,  probably  because  they  all  belong  to  the  smaller  tribes  of  animals.  In  the 
conception  of  the  author,  however,  it  is  evident  that  the  two  former,  with  the  change 
of  water  into  blood,  constitute  the  first  triad  of  judicial  visitations,  as  two  of  them  are 
announced  beforehand  and  the  third  not,  according  to  a  law  which  is  observed  in  each 
triad. 

1-15.  The  plague  of  frogs.  Go  in  to  Pharoh.  This  infliction  is  to  be  announced  to 
Pharoh  in  his  palace,  as  the  former  was  by  the  river  side  (7  :  15).  The  request  for 
leave  to  depart  is  repeated,  and  in  case  of  refusal  the  plague  of  frogs  is  threatened. 
3,  4.  The  river  shall  swarm  icith  frogs.  Frogs  abound  in  Egypt.  They  appear,  when 
the  river  overflows  the  country,  in  all  the  pools  of  water.  The  common  frog,  the 
green  or  edible  frog  {rana  esculenta),  and  the  speckled  frog  {rana  punctata),  are  found 
in  Egypt.  The  number  of  eggs  in  the  spawn  of  a  single  frog  varies  from  one  thousand 
to  fifteen  hundred.  The  appearance  of  these  animals  in  considerable  numbers  on 
land  is  generally  preceded  and  accompanied  by  heavy  storms  of  rain  (Kitto'  s  Cyclo- 
paedia). Such  an  accompaniment  would  render  the  visitation  more  appalling  to  the 
Egyptians. 

The  phraseology  here  is  similar  to  that  employed  in  the  six  days'  creation  (Gen. 
1  :  20).  Miracles  are  not  the  less  supernatural  because  their  products  are  natural  ob- 
jects previously  well  known,  as  frogs,  or  are  placed  in  ordinary  circumstances,  as  frogs 
in  the  standing  water  of  a  river,  or  are  even  arranged  in  natural  succession,  as  frogs 
in  the  Nile  after  its  change  of  color.  The  Author  of  nature  does  not  put  himself  out 
of  all  relation  with  the  laws  he  has  imposed  on  nature  when  he  introduces  a  new  effect 
of  his  power  into  the  sphere  of  nature.  His  wondrous  deeds  come  under  the  law  of 
reason,  and  therefore  fall  in  with  the  law  of  nature.  The  miracle  consists  in  the  event 
described,  (1)  happening  accordingly  ;  (2)  in  the  circumstances  predicted,  or  at  the 
v/ord  of  command  ;  (3)  without  any  ordinary  causes  either  existing  or  having  had 
time  to  operate  ;  and  (4)  further,  it  may  be  at  an  unusual  season,  and  in  an  unusually 
magnified  form.  The  last  condition,  however,  is  not  absolutely  necessary.  The 
event  is  described  with  considerable  minuteness  in  these  two  verses.  It  is  evidently 
aggravated  beyond  the  usual  form.  The  frogs  venture  into  the  houses,  the  sleeping 
apartments,  the  very  beds.  They  penetrate  into  the  ovens  and  kneading-troughs. 
The  baking  oven  was  often  a  round  hole,  three  feet  deep,  and  plastered  with  mud. 
This  was  heated  by  burning  brushwood  in  it.  The  dough  was  then  spread  with  the 
hand  on  its  sides,  and  speedily  baked  (Layard's  Nineveh).  A  pot  of  earthenware,  of 
nearly  the  same  shape,  was  also  employed  for  the  same  purpose,  the  fire  being  placed 
within,  and  the  dough  applied  withoiit.     Into  such  a  vessel  or  pit,  when  unemployed, 


EXODUS  YIII.   5-15.  57 

the  frogs  might  easily  enter,  Thej^  even  leap  upon  the  person  ("  on  thee"),  probably 
when  reclining  for  repose.     The  annoyance  of  such  a  yisitation  can  hardly  be  conceived. 

5-7.  Aaron  stretching  forth  his  hand,  with  the  wand  of  power,  is  here  the  sign, 
equivalent  to  the  word  of  command.  The  rivers,  see  7  :  19.  Upon  the  land.  Their 
usual  place  was  the  river.  Covered  the  land.  This  extraordinary  abundance  on  the 
land  accounts  for  their  intrusion  into  the  apartments  and  utensils  of  the  people.  Here 
the  event  takes  place,  according  to  the  description,  at  the  sign  of  command,  without 
any  ordinary  cause.  Frogs  are  not  usually  spawned,  transformed  into  tadpoles,  and 
then  into  frogs,  and  spread  over  a  country  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes.  The  magi- 
cians imitated  this  miracle,  no  doubt  at  the  summons  of  Pharoh,  it  is  needless  to  in- 
quire how.  It  would  have  been  more  to  the  purpose  if  by  their  enchantments  they 
had  cleared  the  land  of  them. 

8-15.  The  removal  of  the  frogs.  And  Pharoh  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron.  He  is  at 
length  moved.  Having  at  his  command  all  the  resources  of  sovereignty,  he  may  have 
been  tolerably  supplied  with  well-water,  even  when  the  river  flowed  with  blood.  He 
did  not  feel  much  personal  inconvenience  from  the  former  plague.  But  he  cannot 
escape  the  presence  and  contact  of  these  loathsome  creatures.  He  suffers  more  from 
their  offensive  intrusion  than  his  meanest  subjects.  He  must  take  all  means  to  escape 
fi-om  this  unutterable  pest.  His  hieroglyphs  fail  him  in  the  hour  of  need.  Else  he 
would  never  have  had  recourse  to  Moses  and  Aaron.  Entreat  the  Lord.  Here  is  an  ex- 
plicit acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  forced  from  him  who  said,  "  Who  is  the  Lord,  that 
I  should  obey  his  voice  ?  I  know  not  the  Lord  "  (vs.  2).  Let  him  take  away  the  frogs. 
He  only  who  sent  them  can  take  them  aM^ay.  This  is  Pharoh' s  present  experience. 
And  1  will  let  the  people  go.  He  now  humbly  promises,  who  once  and  again  had  said,  "  I 
will  not  let  Israel  go."  His  former  language  is  now  completely  revoked.  It  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  the  will  corresponds  with  the  word. 

9-11.  Prescribe  unto  me  when  I  shall  entreat  for  thee.  The  original  means,  either  "  glory 
over  me,  defy  me,  by  setting  the  time  when  I  am  to  do  this,  "  or  determine  for  me." 
The  former  is  a  challenge  to  Pharoh  to  defy  him  (Moses)  to  work  the  miracle  at  a 
prescribed  time.  The  latter  is  simply  leaving  the  time  of  performance  to  be  determined 
by  Pharoh.  This  is  the  easier  sense,  and  is  involved  in  the  former.  Only  in  the  river, 
the  element  in  which  they  are  usually  seen,  when  they  appear  at  all.  "When  they  re- 
tire for  hibernation  they  are  not  open  to  common  observation. 

12-15.  And  the  Lord  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses.  This  is  the  second  and  de- 
cisive part  of  the  miracle.  The  frogs  suddenly  die  out  of  the  land,  are  gathered  in 
heaps  or  measures,  and  emit  a  grievous  stench.  Thus  at  the  word  of  Moses  they  come, 
and  at  his  word  they  go.  There  is  a  power  here  above  nature.  The  God  of  nature 
is  with  Moses.  He  accomplishes  what  the  magicians  did  not  attempt.  Pharoh,  how- 
ever, thinks  not  of  this  demonstration  of  the  divine  power  and  mercy,  but  only  of 
the  "respite."  On  obtaining  relief  his  obduracy  of  heart  returns.  His  promise,  it 
now  appears,  was  from  the  lip,  not  the  heart. 

The  plague  of  frogs  was  fraught  with  its  own  lessons  to  all  parties  concerned.  One 
of  the  feeblest  and  most  harmless  of  living  creatures  was  by  its  miraculous  multipli- 
cation made  a  source  of  greater  distress  to  Pharoh  than  even  the  turning  of  the  Nile 
into  blood  ;  compelling  him  to  confess  the  impotence  of  his  own  gods  and  their  at- 
tendants, to  acknowledge  the  omnipotence  of  Jehovah,  to  implore  the  intercession  of 
his  ministers,  and  to  promise  all  that  was  demanded  of  him.  God  has  at  hand  in  the 
weakest  things  the  most  abundant  means  and  the  most  unexpected  ways  of  chastising 


58  THE   PLAGUE   OE   LICE. 

the  transgressor.  The  frog,  moreover,  had  a  certain  significance  to  Egypt.  It  was  the 
symbol  of  human  life  in  embryo.  In  the  hieroglyphics  it  sat  on  a  ring,  one  of  the 
emblems  of  life,  and  from  its  back  rose  a  palm  branch,  the  symbol  of  the  month  or  of 
time.  The  frog-headed  god  is  a  form  of  Pthah,  the  creative  or  formative  principle. 
Whatever  mysterious  connection  the  frog  had  with  life  in  the  mind  of  an  Egyptian,  it 
is  evident  that  the  reptile  lives  and  dies  at  the  will  of  the  God  of  Moses.  Whatever 
divinity  or  divine  attribute  was  ascribed  to  it,  or  denoted  by  it,  the  frog  itself  is  but 
an  inferior  creature  of  the  true  God,  moving  in  a  sphere  immeasurably  beneath  that 
of  man,  and  unconsciously  fulfilling  its  humble  function  in  the  economy  of  nature. 
This  base  creature  is  now  made  to  bend  the  refractory  will  of  proud  Pharoh. 

16-19.  The  plague  of  lice.  We  are  now  come  to  the  third  plague.  No  warning  is 
here  given  to  Pharoh.  His  treacherous  dealing  had  forfeited  even  this  measure  of 
forbearance.  Say  unto  Aaron.  As  in  the  former  two  of  this  triad,  the  performance  is 
assigned  to  Aaron.  Smite  the  dust  of  the  land.  The  frogs  had  their  source  in  the  rivers 
and  ponds  ;  the  lice  in  the  dust  of  the  land.  The  latter  plague  is  thus  the  comple- 
ment of  the  former.  And  it  shall  become  lice.  The  reasons  for  retaining  this  version 
have  been  already  assigned  ;  to  which  it  is  only  necessary  to'  add  that  vermin  of  the 
kind  is  one  of  the  common  annoyances  of  Egypt.  Herodotus  tells  us  (ii.  37)  that  the 
priests  shave  their  whole  body  every  other  day,  that  no  lice  or  other  impure. thing  may 
adhere  to  them  when  they  are  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  gods.  It  is  manifest  that 
this  species  of  vermin  was  particularly  disgusting  to  the  Egyptians  ;  and  it  is  said 
that  in  the  space  of  a  year  one  of  these  creatures  will  produce  five  thousand  eggs  or 
nits.  On  man  and  on  beast.  This  is  one  of  the  aggravations  of  this  plague.  The 
stream  of  blood  was  a  distant  object,  which  could  be  alleviated  by  digging  for  water. 
The  frogs  were  a  loathsome  and  disgusting  nuisance  in  the  houses  and  on  the  furni- 
ture of  the  people  ;  but  still  they  did  not  ordinarily  come  into  contact  with  their  per- 
sons, or  inflict  pain.  The  lice,  on  the  other  hand,  inhabited  the  skin,  sucked  the 
blood,  caused  a  disagreeable  itching,  created  a  feeling  of  uncleanness,  and  threatened 
to  become  a  disease  of  the  most  frightful  description.  Aiid  could  not.  The  magicians 
of  Pharoh  attempt  to  imitate  this  miracle,  but  fail.  This  is  a  second  point  in  which 
this  miracle  surpasses  the  others.  Even  so  minute  an  animal  as  this  they  are  unable 
to  produce.  This  is  the  finger  of  God.  They  are  obliged  to  confess  that  this  was  the 
effect  of  divine  power.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  this  was  said  to  cover  their  de- 
feat ;  and  therefore  their  meaning  is,  that  this  visitation  was  brought  on  by  the  ordi- 
nary providence  and  power  of  God,  and  not  by  any  magic  art  or  miraculous  power, 
either  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  or  of  themselves.  This  accounts  for  the  persistence  of 
Pharoh  in  his  obstinacy.  Adopting  the  solution  of  his  counsellors,  he  regards  this 
event  no  longer  as  a  sign  or  wonder  wrought  by  the  ministers  of  Jehovah,  but  as  a 
mere  effect  of  the  general  providence  of  God,  and  therefore  to  be  borne  with  patience 
so  long  as  it  should  last. 

This  plague  was  not  without  its  weighty  lessons.  A  still  more  minute  and  con- 
temptible animal  was  now  made  a  source  of  extreme  annoyance  to  the  Egyptians.  It 
infested  all  men,  priests  as  well  as  others,  and  therefore  unfitted  them  for  entering  the 
temples  of  their  gods.  It  appeared  on  all  beasts,  sacred  as  well  as  profane,  and  there- 
fore on  all  the  animals  that  were  regarded  as  divinities  ;  and  it  defiled  everything  it 
touched.  Thus  contempt  was  brought  on  everything  that  was  vainly  imagined  to  be 
sacred  among  the  Egyptians.  Next,  the  miracle-mongers  of  Egypt  are  confessedly 
unable  to  produce  as  weU  as  to  remove  this  grievous  and  loathsome  infliction  :  and 


EXODUS  Yin.  20-32.  59 

hence,  we  may  infer  they  were  equally  unable  to  call  into  or  bid  out  of  existence  any 
other  conceivable  thing.  Lastly,  their  ready  insinuation  that  this  was  an  event  com- 
ing from  the  hand  of  providence,  and  not  a  judgment  from  Jehovah,  inflicted  through 
his  ministers,  is  accepted  by  Pharoh,  not  because  it  is  well  founded,  but  because  it 
accords  with  his  wish. 

8  :  20-9  :  12.  This  passage  contains  the  second  triad  of  plagues,  in  which  God  acts 
without  the  intervention  of  any  sign  on  the  part  of  his  servants.  In  the  third,  indeed, 
Moses  sprinkles  the  ashes  toward  heaven,  but  still  makes  no  sign  with  the  rod.  Thus 
it  is  made  plain  that  the  true  wonder-worker  is  not  tied  to  any  mode  of  introducing 
his  wonders.  From  this  time  forward,  also,  a  distinction  is  put  between  the  Israelites 
and  the  Egyptians.  The  former  seem  to  have  been  partial  sufferers  in  the  first  three 
plagues.  They  needed  the  chastisement  ;  and  their  habitual  attachment  to  the  land 
of  their  birth  was  gradually  abated  by  the  afflictions  thus  associated  with  it, 

20-32.  The  plague  of  flies  inflicted.  Bise  up  early  in  the  morning.  This  plague,  like 
the  first,  is  announced  to  Pharoh  in  the  morning,  and  by  the  river's  side.  Leave  to 
depart  is  requested  for  the  people  of  God,  as  on  other  occasions.  The  fly.  This  term 
serves  to  denote  a  kind  of  insect  that  alights  on  the  skin  or  the  leaves  of  plants,  by 
its  bite  inflicting  pain  in  the  one  case,  and  causing  destruction  in  the  other.  The 
swarms  of  flies  in  Egypt  are  usually  numerous  and  excessively  annoying.  They  alight 
on  the  moist  parts  of  the  eyelids  and  nostrils,  and  inflict  wounds  that  produce  great 
pain,  swelling,  and  inflammation.  They  are  also  ruinous  to  the  plants  in  which  they 
lay  their  eggs,  Philo  (vii.  Mos.  ii.  p.  110)  describes  the  dog-fly  or  gad-fly  as  a  grievous 
pest  of  Egypt.  Gnats  and  mosquitoes  are  also  abundant  and  virulent.  A  plague  of 
such  creatures  would  cause  immense  suffering  and  desolation.  Even  the  ground  where- 
on they  are.  The  whole  land  in  which  the  Egyptians  dwell  will  be  infested  with  this 
fly.  22.  And  I  will  sever,  make  distinct,  and  even  wonderful,  both  of  which  thoughts 
are  implied  in  the  verb.  The  land  of  Goshen,  in  which  the  Israelites  dwell  (stand), 
shaU  be  free  from  this  and  the  following  inflictions.  That  thou  mayest  know.  Every- 
thing God  does  has  a  lesson  for  the  intelligent  observer.  I  am  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of 
the  land.  As  the  stroke  falls  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  not  on  the  Israelites,  it  is  man- 
ifest, (1)  that  it  has  come  from  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  ;  (2)  that  this  great  Being  has 
equal  power  in  Egj^pt  as  elsewhere  ;  and  (3)  that  therefore  he  is  Jehovah,  the  Creator 
and  Upholder  of  all  things,  the  one  only  true  and  living  God.  A  division  (nilS)' 
a  release,  an  untying  of  the  connection  between  them.  To-morrow.  At  a  fixed  point  of 
time  shall  this  plague  make  its  appearance.  Time  for  reflection  is  thus  given  to  Pharoh. 
The  miraculous  nature  of  the  event  is  also  demonstrated.  The  sign.  It  is  appropri- 
ately called  a  sign,  as  it  bears  evidence  to  all  the  important  truths  which  have  been 
already  noticed.  A  grievous  fly,  grievous  on  account  of  its  nuipabers  and  noxious 
effects.  The  land  was  destroyed.  The  verdure  with  which  the  earth  was  now  covered 
was  seriously  damaged  by  its  attacks. 

25-32.  The  removal  of  the  fly  on  the  intercession  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  "  And  Pharoh 
called  Moses  and  Aaron.  His  conjurers  are  now  no  longer  mentioned.  He  is  com- 
l^elled  to  appeal  again  to  the  servants  of  Jehovah.  Go  ye,  sacrifice  to  your  God  in  the 
land.  The  time  for  sacrifice  is  here  conceded,  but  not  the  place.  It  is  not  meet  so  to 
do.  It  is  not  right  in  a  moral  point  of  view.  The  reason  is  assigned  in  the  following 
verse.  The  abomination  of  Mizraim  is  either  that  which  Egypt  abominates,  or  that 
which  the  Lord  abominates  in  Egypt.     In  this  case,  as  the  Egyptians  were  idolaters, 


60  PESTILEKCE,    BOILS,    AKD   HAIL. 

the  two  meanings  in  a  great  measure  coincide.  The  matter  and  manner  of  the  Hebrew 
sacrifice  would  be  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptian.  The  matter,  for  the  cow  was 
sacred  to  Isis,  the  goat  was  worshipped  by  the  Mendesians,  the  ram  by  the  Thebans, 
and  the  bull  by  the  Memphians  and  others  ;  the  manner,  because  the  minute  and 
punctilious  ritual  of  the  Egyptians  in  regard  to  the  cleanness  of  the  victims  would  not 
be  observed.  The  sacrificing  of  animals  whom  they  worshipped,  and  without  the 
regulations  of  a  superstitious  purity,  would  prompt  them  to  stone  the  worshippers. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  bulls  of  Memphis,  of  Heliopolis,  and  of  Hermonthis,  the  ram 
of  Thebes,  the  goat  of  Mendes,  and  the  other  animals  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians, 
could  not  but  be  an  abomination  to  the  holy  and  living  and  true  God.  27.  As  he  shall 
say  unto  us.  The  Lord  had  not  yet  prescribed  the  manner  of  sa  crifice,  but  only  the 
place.  28-30.  Pharoh  now  gives  a  reluctant  permission,  on  which  Moses  promises  the 
removal  of  the  fly  by  his  intercession,  and  admonishes  Pharoh  not  to  be  false  a  second 
time  to  his  word.  31,  32.  The  Lord  removes  the  fly  at  the  appointed  time  (to-morrow) 
with  as  much  ease  as  he  had  brought  it.  This  is  the  second  and  most  decisive  part  of 
the  miracle.  Pharoh,  having  no  moral  principle,  returns  to  his  obduracy  of  heart  as 
soon  as  the  pressure  is  removed. 

Even  creatures  that  came  under  the  designation  of  the  fly  were  connected  with  the 
animal  worship  of  the  Egyptians.  The  beetle  {scarabeus)  was  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon sacred  emblems  of  Egypt,  and  represented  the  sun.  The  large  class  of  diminu- 
tive creatures  to  which  it  belongs  is  here  raised  up  for  the  chastisement  of  the  nation, 
and  removed  again  at  the  intercession  of  Moses.  The  relief  of  the  Israelites  from  the 
plague  was  calculated  to  detach  them  still  more  from  the  nation  and  territory  of  Egypt, 
and  attach  them  with  a  more  enlightened  confidence  and  veneration  to  the  God  of 
their  fathers. 


Vn.    THIRD   THREE   PLAGUES.— Ex.  9:13-10. 

'CHAP.    TX. — THE    PLAGUES    OP    (5)    PESTILENCE,    (6)    BOILS,    (7)    HAIL. 

3.  -]2"^  pestilence ;  r.  follow,  persecute,  destroy.  It  applies  to  men  as  well  as 
cattle. 

8.  pir)  ashes,  dust,  a\Bd7ir}  (Sept.)  ;  r.  Uow  away.  \^'2'^  furnace.  Smelting  fur- 
nace, or  limekiln  (Kimchi).     "113171  &<^^^^^  oven. 

9.  pn^  fine  dust,  or  powder ;  r.  turn,  whirl. 

10.  'np(]2)  hail,  inflamed  swelling,  j^'^^'^^b^  hlains,  pustules ;  ^IvKrldei  (Sept.);  r. 
T)urst  or  gush  forth. 

IX.  1.  Then  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Go  in  unto  Pharoh,  and  tell  him.  Thus 
saith  the  Lokd,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  Let  my  people  go  and  serve  me.  2.  For  if 
thou  refuse  to  let  them  go,  and  wilt  hold  them  still,  3.  Behold,  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  thy  cattle  which  is  in  the  field,  upon  the  horses,  upon  the  asses,  upon 
the  camels,  upon  the  oxen,  and  upon  the  sheep,  as  a  very  grievous  pestilence.  4.  And 
the  LoBD  shall  sever  between  the  cattle  of  Israel  and  the  cattle  of  Mizraim,  and  noth- 
ing shall  die  of  all  that  belongs  to  the  sons  of  Israel.  5.  And  the  Loed  appointed  a 
set  time,  saying,  To-morrow  the  Lord  shall  do  this  thing  in  the  land.  6.  And  the 
Lord  did  this  thing  on  the  morrow  ;  and  all  the  cattle  of  Mizraim  died  ;  but  of  the 
cattle  of  the  sons  of  Israel  died  not  one.     7.  And  Pharoh  sent,  and,  behold,  not  even 


EXODUS  IX.    1-7.  61 

one  of  the  cattle  of  Israel  was  dead.  And  Pharoh's  heart  was  hardened,  and  he  did 
not  let  the  people  go.  ^  12. 

8.  And  the  Lokd  said  nnto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  Take  to  you  the  hands  full  of 
ashes  of  the  furnace,  and  let  Moses  sprinkle  it  toward  the  sky  in  the  sight  of  Pharoh. 
9.  And  it  shall  become  dust  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim  ;  and  shall  be  a  boil  breaking 
forth  with  blains  upon  man  and  upon  beast  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  10.  And  they 
took  ashes  of  the  furnace  and  stood  before  Pharoh,  and  Moses  sprinkled  it  toward  the 
sky  ;  and  it  became  a  boil  breaking  forth  with  blains  upon  man  and  upon  beast.  11. 
And  the  scribes  could  not  stand  before  Moses  because  of  the  boil  :  for  the  boil  was 
upon  the  scribes  and  upon  all  Mizraim.  12.  And  the  Lord  hardened  Pharoh's  heart, 
and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them  ;  as  the  Loed  had  spoken  unto  Moses.  §  8. 

13.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Eise  up  early  in  the  morning  and  stand  before 
Pharoh,  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Loed,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  Let  my 
people  go  and  serve  me.  14.  For  at  this  time  I  will  send  all  my  plagues  into  thy  heart, 
and  on  thy  servants,  and  on  thy  people  ;  that  thou  mayest  know  that  there  is  none 
like  me  in  all  the  earth.  15.  For  now  I  had  stretched  out  my  hand  and  smitten  thee 
and  thy  people  with  the  pestilence  ;  and  thou  wouldst  have  been  cut  off  from  the 
earth.  16.  But  for  this  have  I  raised  thee  up,  to  show  thee  my  power,  and  to  declare 
my  name  in  all  thy  earth.  17.  As  yet  thou  exaltest  thyself  against  my  people,  that 
thou  wilt  not  let  them  go.  18.  Behold  at  this  time  to-morrow  I  will  rain  a  very  griev- 
ous  hail,  such  as  hath  not  been  in  Mizraim  from  the  day  of  its  foundation  even  until 
now.  19.  Send  now,  therefore,  and  bring  in  thy  cattle  and  all  that  thou  hast  in  the 
field  :  for  upon  every  man  or  beast  which  is  found  in  the  field,  and  is  not  gathered 
into  the  house,  the  hail  shall  come  down,  and  they  shall  die.  20.  He  that  feared  the 
word  of  the  Lord  among  the  servants  of  Pharoh  made  his  servants  and  his  cattle  flee 
into  the  houses.  21.  And  he  that  set  not  his  heart  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  left  his 
servants  and  his  cattle  in  the  field.  ^  13. 

22.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  forth  thy  hand  toward  heaven,  and  let 
there  be  hail  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  upon  man  and  upon  beast,  and  upon  every 
herb  of  the  field  in  the  land  of  Mizraim.  23.  And  Moses  stretched  forth  his  rod 
toward  heaven  ;  and  the  Loed  sent  thunder  and  hail,  and  fire  fell  upon  the  earth; 
and  the  Loed  rained  hail  upon  the  land  of  Mizraim.  24.  And  there  was  hail,  and  fire 
flashing  amid  the  hail,  very  grievous,  such  as  was  not  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim 
since  it  became  a  nation.  25.  And  the  hail  smote  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim  all  that 
was  in  the  field  from  man  to  beast,  and  the  hail  smote  every  herb  of  the  field,  and  brake 
every  tree  of  the  field.  26.  Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  where  the  sons  of  Israel  were, 
was  there  no  hail. 

27.  And  Pharoh  sent  and  called  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  said  unto  them,  I  have 
sinned  this  time  :  the  Loed  is  righteous,  and  I  and  my  people  are  wicked.  28.  En- 
treat the  Loed,  and  let  there  be  no  more  thunderings  of  God  and  hail  ;  and  I  will  let 
you  go,  and  ye  shall  stay  no  longer.  29.  And  Moses  said  unto  him,  When  I  come  out  of 
the  city,  I  will  spread  abroad  my  hands  unto  the  Loed  :  the  thunderings  shall  cease, 
neither  shall  there  be  any  more  hail,  that  thou  mayest  know  that  the  earth  is  the 
Loed's.  30.  And  as  for  thee  and  thy  servants,  I  know  that  ye  do  not  fear  the  Lord 
God.  31.  And  the  flax  and  the  barley  were  smitten,  for  the  barley  was  in  the  ear, 
and  the  flax  was  boiled.  32.  And  the  wheat  and  the  spelt  were  not  smitten,  for  they 
are  late.  33.  And  Moses  came  out  of  the  city  from  Pharoh,  and  spread  abroad  his 
hands  to  the  Loed  ;  and  the  thunders  and  hail  ceased,  and  rain  was  not  poured  on  the 
earth.  34.  And  Pharoh  saw  that  the  rain  and  the  hail  and  the  thunders  were  ceased, 
and  he  sinned  yet  more,  and  hardened  his  heart,  he  and  his  servants.  35.  And  Pha- 
roh' s  heart  was  hardened,  neither  did  he  let  the  sons  of  Israel  go  ;  as  the  Lord  had 
spoken  by  the  hand  of  Moses.  15.  1[T[T[  14. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  the  plagues  of  pestilence,  boils,  and  hail.  The  first  two 
complete  the  second  triad  and  close  the  section  in  which  they  are  contained. 

1-7.  The  plague  of  pestilence.  Go  in  unto  Pharoh.  As  in  the  second  plague  of  the 
former  triad  (8  : 1).  And  wilt  hold  them  still.  This  is  added  to  mark  the  pertinacity 
of  Pharoh,  notwithstanding  the  severe  chastisements  he  had  already  suffered  for  his 
obstinacy. .  3.   The  hand  of  the  Lord.     This  will  be  more  manifest,  as  no  waving  of  the 


62  PESTILEi^CE,    BOILS,    AlTD    HAIL. 

rod  or  hand  precedes  the  appearance  of  the  miracle.  Upon  thy  cattle  (njnXD)»  ^  general 
name  for  all  domestic  animals,  that  constitute  a  great  part  of  the  properly  of  a  pas- 
toral or  agricultural  people.  Which  is  in  the  field.  This  limits  the  extent  of  the  pesti- 
lence to  the  animals  that  were  in  the  open  air.  Horses.  The  first  notice  of  these  is  in 
Gen.  47  :  17.  Egypt  was  celebrated  for  its  horses,  which  appear  on  its  sculptures. 
They  were  employed  in  the  chariot  of  war  or  state.  The  object  of  worship  at  Mem- 
phis, Heliopolis,  and  Hermonthis  was  the  hull;  at  Thebes  thera?7i,  at  Mendes  the  goat. 
The  sheep  here  (W\j)  are  the  small  cattle,  including  the  goats.  Asses  are  mentioned 
on  the  monuments  of  Egypt.  They  were  used  for  riding  or  draught.  The  Bactrian 
camel  has  two  humps,  the  Arabian  one.  The  latter  was  known  and  employed  on  the 
borderland  between  Egypt  and  Arabia  ;  but  has  not  been  found  on  the  ancient  mon- 
uments of  the  former  country.  Its  presence  here  favors  the  supposition  that  the 
north-east  part  of  Egypt  was  at  the  time  under  a  dynasty  of  the  Shepherd  kings,  who 
came  from  Arabia.  A  very  grievous  pestilence.  We  follow  the  original  here  in  using  the 
more  general  term,  pestilence  (~^n^),  as  we  find  it  also  employed  in  reference  to  the 
human  species  (vs.  15).  The  miracle  consists  in  its  being  very  grievous,  in  being  sent 
at  an  appointed  time  (vs.  5),  and  in  being  limited  to  the  cattle  of  the  Egyptians.  A 
severance  takes  place  here,  as  in  the  preceding  plague  (8  :  22).  To-morrow.  A  set  time 
of  inflicting  the  stroke  is  as  significant  of  the  divine  intervention  as  a  set  time  of  with- 
drawing it  (8  :  29).  6.  All  the  cattle  of  Mizrabn.  This  is  to  be  limited  to  the  kinds 
already  mentioned,  and  also  to  those  of  them  that  were  in  the  field  (vs.  3).  Wilkinson 
("Ancient  Egyptians,"  2d  Series,  I.  p.  96)  informs  us  that  some  animals  were  stall-fed 
among  the  Egyptians.  This  explains  the  limitation,  "  in  the  field,"  and  the  existence 
of  some  cattle  among  the  Egj'^ptians  after  the  pestilence  had  done  its  work  (vs.  19). 
7.  And  PharoKs  heart  was  hardened.  We  may  suppose  that  the  pestilence  among  the 
cattle  did  not  much  affect  him  personally,  and  that  he  was  irritated  to  find  that  the 
cattle  of  the  Israelites  had  escaped. 

Hitherto  the  plagues  had  given  great  personal  annoyance,  but  had  not  involved 
much  loss  of  property.  But  now  the  hand  of  the  corrector  comes  down  upon  the  main 
branch  of  the  country' s  wealth.  Cattle,  besides  being  a  chief  means  of  food  and  cloth- 
ing, were  employed  by  the  Egyptians  in  treading  the  seed  into  the  ground,  in  treading 
out  the  corn,  and  in  conveying  the  produce  of  the  country  to  the  place  of  storage.  The 
destruction  of  cattle  was  therefore  a  serious  loss  to  the  Egyptian  farmer.  The  hand 
of  the  Lord  was  manifest  herein  distinguishing  the  cattle  of  Israel  from  that  of  Mizraim. 

8-12.  The  plague  of  boils.  This  third  plague  of  the  second  triad  is  not  announced 
to  Pharoh.  Ashes  of  the  furnace.  This  is  taken  to  be  the  fine  ash  or  soot  of  some  of 
the  furnaces  for  the  purposes  of  art  that  stood  in  the  open  air.  Bust,  a  fine  powder 
floating  in  the  air,  and  pregnant  with  disease.  A  boil  {YJ^]f;)-  This  is  afterward 
mentioned  as  the  boil  of  Mizraim,  and  seems  therefore  to  be  an  endemic  disease.  Vari- 
ous conjectures  have  been  offered  as  to  its  nature,  but  none  of  them  is  satisfactory. 
The  description  of  it  bears  some  resemblance  to  elephantiasis,  a  dreadful  form  of  lep- 
rosy prevalent  in  Egypt,  so  called  because  it  makes  the  feet  swollen  and  stiff,  like  the 
elephant's  feet.  But  this  disease  does  not  attack  the  brute  creation.  The  scribes  could 
not  stand  before  Moses.  At  the  third  plague  the  magicians  of  Pharoh  failed  in  their  en- 
chantments, and  acknowledged  the  finger  of  God.  At  this,  the  second  third,  they 
hasten  away  from  Moses  covered  with  shame  and  humiliation.  The  punctilious  atten- 
tion of  the  Egyptians  to  personal  cleanliness  is  noted  by  Herodotus.  In  particular, 
the  priests  shave  their  whole  body  every  other  day.     Their  dress  is  entirely  of  linen. 


EXODUS  IX.  13-21.  63 

They  bathe  twice  every  day  in  cold  water,  and  twice  each  night  (Herodotus,  ii.  37). 
Their  confusion  and  distress  therefore  must  have  been  great  to  find  themselves  now 
covered  with  an  eruptive  disease,  that  mocked  all  their  precautions,  and  rendered  them 
unfit  for  their  sacerdotal  duties.  And  the  Lord  hardened  PharoK  s  heart.  Here  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  very  means  that  would  have  brought  an  unbiassed  and  unclouded 
mind  to  conviction  and  submission  only  begat  a  stolid  and  infatuated  obstinacy  in  the 
monarch  of  Egypt.  The  course  of  the  divine  interposition  has  been  one  of  uniform 
mildness  and  forbearance,  only  proceeding  to  judicial  chastisements  when  negotiation 
would  not  avail,  and  advancing  gradually  to  severer  measures  only  when  the  more 
gentle  were  disregarded.  Hio  obduracy  is  now  come  to  such  a  pitch  of  stupidity  that 
we  cannot  catch  a  shadow  of  reason  for  his  conduct. 

Hitherto  the  Lord  has  tried  to  move  the  heart  of  the  king  by  a  series  of  external 
privations  and  penalties.  The  want  of  water,  the  presence  of  a  loathsome  reptile,  the 
creeping  and  biting  of  a  nauseous  insect,  the  fierce  stinging  of  the  fly-swarm,  and  the 
loss  occasioned  \>j  the  pestilence  among  the  cattle,  have  been  all  in  vain.  Now  the  life 
is  menaced.  A  boil  breaking  out  in  blains  or  open  sores  has  fallen  upon  man  and 
beast.  We  may  be  sure  that  the  sacred  animals  that  were  objects  of  worship  would 
not  escape  this  plague  ;  and  we  may  imagine  what  consternation  this  would  create 
throughout  all  Egypt. 

This  closes  the  second  section  relating  to  the  plagues.  Allowing  a  week  for  each  of 
the  six  plagues  already  recorded,  and  twenty  days  for  the  previous  transactions,  we 
are  brought  to  the  3d  of  March  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  plague. 

9  :  13-10.  This  section  contains  the  record  of  the  next  three  plagues — the  hail,  the 
locusts,  and  the  darkness.     These  rise  in  terrific  severity  above  all  that  precede  them. 

13-21.  The  hail  threatened.  As  usual  in  the  first  of  each  triad,  Moses  is  to  meet 
Pharoh  at  the  usual  time,  and  probably  in  the  usual  place,  to  demand  the  release  of 
the  people,  and  announce  the  immediate  consequence  of  refusal.  All  my  plagues.  This 
expression  occurring  in  the  announcement  of  the  first  of  another  three,  is  an  indica- 
tion of  the  ternary  arrangement.  It  refers  to  all  the  following  manifestations  of  the 
divine  power,  at  least  to  those  which  form  the  third  series  of  plagues.  Into  thy  heart. 
By  the  following  judgments  Pharoh  will  be  at  length  brought  to  feel  in  his  heart  the 
folly  and  guilt  of  resisting  the  Almighty.  None  like  me  in  all  the  earth.  The  Egyptians, 
like  the  other  Gentiles,  had  now  wandered  away  from  the  true  notion  concerning  God 
which  had  come  down  from  their  forefathers.  The  false  gods,  fashioned  after  the 
vain  fancies  of  a  disorderly  imagination,  bore  no  moral  resemblance  to  the  true  God, 
Pharoh  is  now  to  learn  this  great  fact  in  his  experience,  if  not  in  his  understanding 
and  his  heart.  I  had  stretched  out  my  hand.  I  might  have  smitten  thee  and  thy  people 
with  the  pestilence  as  easily  as  I  smote  thy  cattle,  and  thou  wouldest  have  been  annihi- 
lated, thyself,  and  all  thy  opposition  to  my  reasonable  demands.  The  Lord  here  gives 
us  some  insight  into  the  theory  of  his  administration.  It  is  instructive,  corrective, 
and  in  the  last  resort  punitive  ;  but  in  no  case  merely  destructive  of  moral  agents. 
He  that  would  sweep  into  instant  annihilation  all  the  opponents  of  his  will  has  no 
idea  of  God's  principle  of  action  or  mode  of  dealing  with  his  rational  creatures.  Not 
even  a  particle  of  irrational  matter  is  bidden  out  of  existence  by  the  great  God  who 
called  it  into  being.  Still  less  will  his  moral  and  responsible  creatures  be  sent  out  of 
existence,  or  at  once  forced  into  submission  by  the  high  hand  of  an  irresistible  des- 
potism.    He  will  approach  them  with  love,  with  reason,  with  justice.     Only  when  such 


64  THE   HAIL   THREATEN^ED. 

methods  fail,  will  he  have  recourse  to  a  patient  and  duly  tempered  correction.  And 
Pharoh  will  be  an  example  to  all  contemporary  nations,  and,  through  the  books  of 
Moses,  to  all  succeeding  generations,  of  the  mercy,  patience,  forbearance,  justice,  and 
holiness  of  God.  But  for  this  have  I  raised  thee  up ;  not  stricken  thee  down  with  the 
pestilence,  but  preserved  thee  from  it  in  my  long-suffering  patience.  To  show  thee  my 
power.  To  convince  thee  while  thou  livest,  and  there  is  yet  time  to  repent,  if  thou 
wilt  be  convinced,  of  my  power,  my  eternal  power  and  Godhead,  in  contrast  with  all 
impotent  and  imaginary  gods  in  whom  thou  hast  heretofore  trusted.  And  to  declare  my 
name  in  all  the  earth,  to  make  thy  history  a  perpetual  lesson  for  the  instruction  of  all 
mankind  in  the  knowledge  of  my  name,  my  real  nature,  which  has  come  to  be  so 
grievously  and  fatally  misapprehended.  As  yet  thou  exaltest  thyself.  Thou  still  persist- 
est  in  thy  haughty  refusal.  There  is  a  sublime  dignity  in  the  continued  moderation 
which  this  expostulation  displays. 

17-21.  At  this  time  to-morrow.  Pharoh  might  have  learned  by  this  time  that  the 
Lord  is  punctual  to  his  time.  A  very  grievous  hail.  Showers  of  hail  in  the  winter  sea- 
son were  not  unknown  in  Egypt,  as  even  the  present  passage  informs  us.  But  this  is 
to  be  such  as  had  not  been  since  Egypt  was  founded,  that  is,  since  it  became  a  nation 
(vs.  24).  Send  now,  therefore,  and  bring  in  thy  cattle.  The  Lord  here  remembers  mercy, 
and  leaves  an  opening  for  faith  to  assert  itself.  He  looks  for  believers  even  among  the 
Egyptians  ;  and  he  did  not  look  in  vain.  This  warning  divided  them  into  two  classes, 
the  one  fearing  the  Lord,  and  the  other  still  disregarding  him. 

22-26.  On  the  morrow  the  performance  comes.  Stretch  forth  thy  hand,  with  the  wand 
of  power  (vs.  23).  Moses  is  described  as  the  agent  in  these  three  plagues  (10  :  12,  21). 
Thunder,  voices  (p^p),  voices  of  God,  as  Pharoh  expresses  it  (vs.  28).  The  primitive 
mind  regarded  the  thunder-peal  as  the  sublimest  utterance  of  the  God  of  nature.  Phi- 
losophy and  theology  alike  bow  to  the  solemn  sentiment  that  the  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God.  The  thunder  is  but  one  note  in  the  great  accord  of  universal  nature  in 
which  he  speaks  to  us  of  himself.  Fire  fell  upon  the  earth,  the  lightning-flash,  of  which 
the  thunder-clap  was  the  accompaniment.  Flashing,  darting  suddenly,  and  seizing 
upon  its  object.  Smote  every  herh,  and  brake  every  tree.  The  lightning  and  hail  that 
killed  everj'-  man  and  beast  were  sufficient  to  destroy  the  green  leaves  and  stalks  of  the 
herbs,  and  the  branches  as  well  as  foliage  of  the  trees.  Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen. 
Here  again  Israel  is  exempted  from  the  effects  of  this  judgment,  as  we  have  no  doubt 
they  were  from  the  preceding  one,  though  it  be  not  mentioned. 

27-30.  Pharoh  is  again  overwhelmed  by  this  judgment,  and  for  the  third  time  prom- 
ises submission.  I  have  sinned  this  time.  Now,  at  length,  I  acknowledge  that  I  have 
sinned.  The  loss  of  his  servants  and  cattle,  with  the  awful  lightnings  and  thunder- 
ings,  brings  a  dawning  conviction  into  his  mind  that  God  is  right  and  he  is  wrong. 
The  expression  of  this  in  words  is  needed,  after  having  twice  asked  and  obtained  re- 
mission, and  as  often  falsified  his  word.  Let  there  be  no  more  thunderings  of  God.  Let 
it  be  enough  (n*^),  and  no  more  of  these  awful  voices.  And  ye  shall  stay  no  longer.  A 
promise  of  immediate  dismissal.  True  to  his  character  of  giving  heed  to  the  latest 
and  feeblest  appeal  to  his  mercy,  the  Lord  is  ready  to  withdraw  his  heavy  hand.  When 
I  come  out  of  the  city.  We  learn  here  incidentally  that  Pharoh  dwelt  in  a  city.  The 
probability  is  in  favor  of  On  or  Bubastis,  from  their  proximity  to  the  Nile  and  the  sit- 
uation of  the  Israelites.  TTiat  thou  may  est  know  that  the  earth  is  the  Lord's.  Another 
proof  of  this  great  fact  is  to  be  afforded  to  Pharoh,  if  he  have  only  the  heart  to  under- 
stand the  lesson.     30.  1  know  that  ye  do  not  fear  the  Lord   God.     Moses  has  learned 


EXODUS  X.  65 

much  since  he  entered  upon  the  task  of  deliyering  the  Lord's  people.  He  can  now 
speak  with  fluency  and  precision.  The  Lord  has  enabled  him  to  judge  of  the  character 
of  Ph  aroh  and  his  court.  Here,  for  the  first  time  since  Gen.  2  : 3,  have  we  Jehovah 
follow  ed  by  Elohim  in  the  absolute  form.  This  is  not  without  its  significance.  The 
grand  primeval  truth  that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  is  the  absolute  and  eternal  God 
(C^I^K)  antecedent  to  all  creation,  and  therefore  the  only  Creator  and  Upholder  of 
heaven  and  earth  (nl'n"!)'  l^^s  been  presented  in  the  most  conspicuous  manner  to  the 
mind  of  Pharoh.  Moses  therefore  seasonably  intimates  by  the  juxtaposition  of  the 
two  names  that  Jehovah,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  is  no  local  or  national  God,  but  the 
sole  and  absolute  God.  He  at  the  same  time  intimates  that  the  mere  acknowledgment 
of  this  vital  truth  in  words  is  not  sufficient.  It  is  the  acknowledgment  of  the  heart 
only  that  will  influence  the  conduct  and  issue  in  spontaneous  obedience  to  the  will  of 
God. 

31-35.  The  remission  effected.  The  flax  and  the  harley.  Egypt  was  celebrated  for 
its  linen.  Its  mummies  we  find  swathed  in  this  fabric.  Barley  was  extensively  sown 
in  this  country,  and  was  used  for  feeding  cattle,  and  making  bread  and  a  kind  of  ale. 
The  sowing  time  was  in  October  and  November.  The  flax  and  barley  were  ripe 
about  the  end  of  March,  and  therefore  the  one  was  in  the  ear  and  the  other  boiled 
about  the  beginning  of  that  month.  The  wheat  and  the  spelt.  Egypt  was  m.ost  prolific 
in  wheat,  which  was  often  seven-headed,  and  yielded  a  hundredfold.  It  was  in  some 
measure  the  granary  of  the  ancient  world,  as  well  as  the  great  mart  for  flax  or  linen. 
Rye  was  not  a  grain  cultivated  in  Egypt,  as  it  belongs  to  colder  countries.  The  gx^ain 
here  rendered  spelt  may  have  been  that  which  is  now  known  as  doora.  These  grains 
ripened  a  month  later  than  the  barley  and  flax.  This  crop  was  therefore  only  injured, 
not  destroyed,  by  the  hail.  He  sinned  yet  more.  Pharoh  had  confessed  his  sin,  but  it 
appears  that  this  confession  was  extorted  from  him  not  by  a  penitent  heart,  but  by 
an  overpowering  terror  (vs.  30).  As  the  Lord  had  spoken  by  the  hand  of  Moses.  This 
announcement  of  Moses  (vs.  30)  was  calculated  to  convince  Pharoh,  if  he  had  been 
disposed  to  give  heed  to  it,  that  he  with  whom  he  had  to  do  was  the  searcher  of  hearts, 
and  could  not  be  deceived  by  a  hypocritical  pretence. 

By  this  act  of  judgment  a  moiety  of  the  crop  of  Egypt  was  destroyed,  while  the 
minds  of  Pharoh  and  his  courtiers  were  evidently  awe-struck  by  the  thunder-storm. 
It  is  manifest  that  the  Lord  is  step  by  step  advancing  to  the  universal  desolation  of 
Egypt.  The  supernatural  character  of  this  storm  is  demonstrated  by  its  coming  at  the 
time  predicted,  ceasing  at  the  intercession  of  Moses,  and  confining  itself  to  the  land 
of  the  Egyptians. 

CHAP.    X. THE    PLAGUES    OF    (8)    LOCUSTS,    (9)    DARKNESS. 

4.  nSii^  locust.  This  is  so  called  from  its  numbers  ;  r.  he  many.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  gryllus  gregarius,  or  passage-locust. 

X.  1.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Go  in  unto  Pharoh  :  for  I  have  hardened  his 
heart,  and  the  heart  of  his  servants,  that  I  may  put  these  my  signs  upon  him.  2.  And 
that  thou  may  est  tell  in  the  ears  of  thy  son,  and  of  thy  son's  son,  that  which  I 
wrought  in  Mizraim,  and  my  signs  which  i  put  upon  them  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  the  Lord.  3.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  in  unto  Pharoh,  and  said  unto  him.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  How  long  dost  thou  refuse  to  humble  thyself 
before  me  ?  Let  my  people  go  and  serve  me.  4.  For  if  thou  refuse  to  let  my  people 
go,  behold,  to-morrow  will  I  bring  the  locust  into  thy  border.    5.  And  they  shall  cover 


GQ  LOCUSTS    AND    DARKNESS. 

the  face  of  the  land,  so  that  one  cannot  see  the  land,  and  they  shall  eat  the  residue  of 
that  which  is  escaped,  which  remained  nnto  you  from  the  hail,  and  shall  eat  every  tree 
which  groweth  for  you  out  of  the  field  :  6,  And  they  shall  fill  thy  houses,  and  the 
houses  of  all  thy  servants,  and  the  houses  of  all  Mizraim  ;  which  neither  thy  fathers 
nor  thy  father's  fathers  have  seen  since  the  day  that  they  were  upon  the  ground  unto 
this  day.     And  he  turned  and  went  out  from  Pharoh. 

7.  And  Phayoh's  servants  said  unto  him.  How  long  shall  this  man  be  a  snare  unto 
us  ?  Let  the  men  go  and  serve  the  Lord  their  God  :  knowest  thou  not  yet  that  Miz- 
raim is  destroyed  ?  8.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  were  brought  back  unto  Pharoh  ;  and 
he  said  unto  them,  Go  serve  the  Loed  your  God  :  Who  are  they  that  go  '?  9.  And  Moses 
said,  With  our  young  and  with  our  old  will  we  go,  v/ith  our  sons  and  with  our  daughters  ; 
with  our  flocks  and  with  our  herds  will  we  go,  for  we  hold  a  feast  unto  the  Loed.  10. 
And  he  said  unto  them.  The  Lord  be  so  with  you,  as  I  will  let  you  and  your  little  ones 
go  :  look  ye  that  evil  is  before  you.  11.  Not  so  :  go  now  ye  men  and  serve  the  Lord  ; 
for  that  ye  did  desire.     And  they  were  driven  out  from  Pharoh's  presence.  §  9. 

12.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  out  thy  hand  over  the  land  of  Mizraim 
for  the  locust,  and  they  shall  come  up  on  the  land  of  Mizraim,  and  eat  every  herb  of  the 
land,  all  that  the  hail  hath  left.  13.  And  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  land 
of  Mizraim  ;  and  the  Loed  sent  an  east  wind  upon  the  land  all  that  day  and  all  the 
night  :  the  morning  came,  and  the  east  wind  brought  the  locusts.  14.  And  the  locusts 
came  up  over  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  and  rested  in  all  the  border  of  Mizraim  :  very 
grievous  were  they,  before  them  were  no  such  locusts  as  they,  neither  after  them 
shall  be  such.  15.  And  they  covered  the  face  of  the  whole  land,  and  the  land  was 
darkened  ;  and  they  ate  every  herb  of  the  land,  and  all  the  fruit  of  the  trees  which 
the  hail  had  left  :  and  there  remained  not  any  green  thing  in  the  trees  or  in  the 
herbs  of  the  field  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim. 

16.  Then  Pharoh  hastened  to  call  Moses  and  Aaron  :  and  he  said,  I  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord  your  God,  and  against  you.  17.  And  now  forgive,  I  pray,  my  sin  only 
this  once,  and  entreat  the  Loed  your  God  ;  and  let  him  take  away  from  me  this  death 
only.  18.  And  he  came  out  from  Pharoh  and  entreated  the  Lord.  19.  And  the  Loed 
turned  a  very  strong  west  wind,  and  took  away  the  locusts,  and  cast  them  into  the 
Red  Sea  :  there  remained  not  one  locust  in  all  the  border  of  Mizraim.  20.  And  the 
Lord  hardened  Pharoh's  heart,  and  he  did  not  let  the  sons  of  Israel  go.  ^i  15. 

21.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  out  thy  hand  toward  the  sky,  and  let 
there  be  darkness  over  the  land  of  Mizraim  ;  and  let  the  darkness  be  felt.  22.  And 
Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  toward  the  sky  :  and  there  was  a  thick  darkness  in  all 
the  land  of  Mizraim  three  days.  23.  They  saw  not  one  another,  neither  rose  any  one 
from  his  place  for  three  days  :  and  all  the  sons  of  Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings. 
24.  And  Pharoh  called  Moses  and  said.  Go  ye,  serve  the  Loed  ;  onlj^  your  flocks  and 
your  herds  shall  be  stayed  :  even  your  little  ones  may  go  v/ith  you.  25.  And  Moses 
said,  Thou  must  also  give  into  our  hand  sacrifices  and  burnt-offerings,  and  w^e  shall 
sacrifice  unto  the  Loed  our  God.  26.  Our  cattle,  then,  also  shall  go  with  us,  not  a 
hoof  shall  be  left  behind  ;  for  thereof  must  we  take  to  serve  the  Lord  our  God  :  and 
we  know  not  with  what  we  shall  serve  the  Loed  until  we  go  thither.  27.  And  the 
Lord  hardened  Pharoh's  heart,  and  he  w^ould  not  let  them  go.  28.  And  Pharoh  said 
unto  him.  Get  thee  from  me  :  take  heed  to  thj^self  ;  see  my  face  no  more,  for  in  the 
day  thou  seest  my  face  thou  shalt  die.  29.  And  Moses  said,  Well  hast  thou  spoken  ; 
I  will  see  thy  face  no  more.  H  16. 

-This  chapter  completes  the  record  of  the  third  group  of  plagues. 

1-20.  The  plague  of  locusts.  Go  in  unto  Pharoh,  into  his  palace  in  the  city,  as  in  the 
second  of  each  series  (8  : 1  ;  9  : 1).  For  I  have  hardened  his  heart  A  mode  of  treatment  cal- 
culated to  have  a  salutary  effect  on  a  reasonable  mind  has  produced  an  opposite  effect 
on  a  proud  and  unreasonable  temper.  That  I  may  put  these  my  signs  upon  him.  To  put 
here  (pi*^)  is  to  set  before  the  view  of  all  for  their  instruction.  In  him  (S^ip^) 
means  in  his  inmost  experience,  so  as  to  touch  his  feelings  to  the  quick  (9  :  14).  And 
that  thou  mayest  tell  These  marvels  of  Egypt  are  to  be  a  lesson  not  only  for  the  present, 
but  for  all  future  generations,  who  may  hearken  to  the  recollections  of  their  fathers. 


EXODUS  X.  7-15.  67- 

or  read  the  books  of-  Moses.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  The  grand  scope 
of  all  these  signs  was  to  reveal  the  Creator  in  his  true  character  to  man.  This  is  the 
lesson  of  nature,  of  providence,  and  of  grace,  to  those  who  read  and  understand.  3. 
How  long  dost  thou  refuse  to  humble  thyself  before  me  ?  Eight  signs,  one  of  them  instruc- 
tive and  seven  corrective,  had  already  been  given  to  him.  His  haughtiness  of  spirit 
is  not  subdued  ;  to  humble  himself,  even  before  God,  he  has  not  yet  learned.  4.  The 
locust.  The  descriptions  of  Joel  (1  : 2)  and  many  other  eye-witnesses  have  made  us 
familiar  with  the  locust  and  its  desolating  progress.  The  class  to  which  they  belong 
is  described  by  Moses  in  Lev.  11  :  21,  23,  and  four  species,  including  the  one  here  men- 
tioned fn"^ns)>  ^^®  pronounced  clean  and  edible.  The  native  place  of  the  locust  is 
the  south  of  Asia  and  the  parts  of  Africa  south  and  west  of  Egypt.  These  insects  are 
about  three  or  four  inches  long,  have  four  wings  and  four  feet,  the  hind  legs  being 
adapted  for  springing.  They  resemble  in  form  the  common  grasshopper.  The  locust, 
after  leaving  the  egg,  exists  in  three  states— the  larva,  the  pupa,  and  the  perfect 
insect.  The  larva  has  no  wings,  the  pupa  has  only  the  rudiments  of  them,  and  they 
are  fully  developed  only  in  the  perfect  insect.  Of  these  three  the  larva  is  the  most 
voracious.  They  breed  in  October,  laying  each  about  three  hundred  eggs,  which  they 
bury  in  the  ground.  They  make  their  appearance  in  March  or  April,  when  the  verdure 
is  on  the  ground.  Their  numbers  are  immense,  and  in  their  flight  they  are  said  to 
cover  thousands  of  square  miles,  and  consume  every  green  thing  where  they  alight. 
They  are  used  as  food,  being  either  cooked  whole  or  ground  into  meal.  Into  thy  border. 
They  came  into  Egypt  generallj^  from  the  south,  but  also  from  the  east.  5.  The  face 
of  the  land.  The  eye  (-jiy)  of  the  land  is  the  surface,  which  looks,  as  it  were,  toward 
us.  That  lohich  remaineth  unto  you  from  the  hail,  the  wheat  and  the  spelt,  the  other 
moiety  of  the  crop,  and  whatsoever  fruit  was  left  on  the  trees.  6.  They  shall  fill  thy 
houses  (Joel  2  :  9).  They  consume  everything  that  comes  before  them,  in  the  house  as 
well  as  in  the  field.  Which  neither  thy  fathers.  The  miracle  consists  in  the  extraordinary 
number,  size,  and  destructiveness  of  these  insects,  as  well  as  in  their  coming  and  go- 
ing according  to  the  word  of  Moses. 

7-11.  The  suggestion  of  Pharoh's  servants.  How  long  shall  this  manbe  a  snare  ?  A  pit- 
fall of  inevitable  destruction  to  us.  The  magicians  and  other  courtiers  of  Pharoh  under- 
stand the  state  of  matters  better  than  himself.  Let  the  men  go.  Let  this  people  depart. 
They  feel  that  they  cannot  contend  with  omnipotence.  Knowest  thou  not  yet  ?  The 
sovereign,  especially  if  he  be  despotic,  is  often  the  last  to  learn  the  wretchedness  of  his 
country  ;  as  it  may  be  at  the  risk  of  life  that  his  servants  venture  to  hint  at  so  unwel- 
come tidings.  Pharoh  seems  to  have  been  in  a  great  measure  unconscious  of  the  ruin 
of  Egypt.  He  now  condescends  to  ask  who  shall  go  ;  a  question  that  should  have 
been  proposed  at  the  very  first.  Moses  promptly  replies  that  all  must  go,  as  it  was  a 
feast,  a  solemn  assembly  of  the  whole  nation  before  the  Lord.  Look  ye  that  evil  is 
before  you.  Pharoh,  refusing  to  let  go  "  the  little  ones"— a  phrase  including  the  young 
of  both  sexes,  and  implying  the  full-grown  women- warns  them  that  "evil  is  before 
them."  This  may  mean  either  that  evil  is  in  store  for  them,  or  that  evil  is  in  their 
minds.  The  former  is  a  menace  of  the  effects  of  his  displeasure,  if  they  insisted  on 
all  going  ;  the  latter  a  charge  of  forming  a  design  of  leaving  the  country.  The  former 
is  more  in  keeping  with  the  expression,  "Look  ye."  The  men  alone  are  allowed  to 
go,  and  with  this  concession  they  are  driven  out  or  ignominiously  dismissed.  Pharoh 
has  become  more  irritable  and  violent  in  his  manner. 

12-15.  The  locusts  sent.     Tlce  Lord  raised  an  east  wind.     An  east  wind,  in  common 


68  LOCUSTS   AKD   DARKNESS. 

phrase,  means  any  wind  from  the  sun-rising,  though  it  may  be  a  good  many  points 
north  or  south.  This  indicates  merely  that  the  present  swarm  of  locusts  came  not 
from  Ethiopia  or  Lybia,  but  from  Arabia.  All  that  day  and  all  the  night.  The  locust 
appeared  in  the  morning,  and  therefore  may  have  come  from  a  considerable  distance. 
"Before  them,"  or  "  after  them,"  were  no  such  locusts.  This  statement  applies  to 
Egypt,  and  refers  to  the  extraordinary  extent  of  the  present  visitation.  The  land  was 
darkened.  It  is  said  that  the  locust  swarm,  like  an  opaque  cloud,  intercepts  the  light 
of  the  sun,  and  leaves  the  earth  in  darkness  (Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  ii.  29).  There  re- 
mained not  any  green  thing.  What  the  hail  had  left,  the  locusts  devoured,  and 
the  land  was  left  desolate,  a  waste  and  a  void  (i^;-,-,,  s^j-^^)  destitute  alike 
of  the  vegetation  which  adorns  and  furnishes  it,  and  of  the  cattle  which  form  a 
part  of  its  inhabitants  (Gen.  1:2;  Jer.  4  :  23). 

16-20.  The  locusts  removed.  And  Pharoh  hastened  to  call.  The  awful  nature  of  this 
devastation  strikes  terror  to  the  heart  of  Pharoh.  His  will  also  has  become  more  rest- 
less and  liable  to  sudden  change.  I  have  sinned.  This  is  the  second  confession  of 
sin,  and  the  fourth  time  he  has  been  led  to  entreaty.  This  death  only.  Death  only 
^  seems  now  to  await  the  Egyptians,  as  their  crop  has  been  destroyed  and  their  cattle 
have  been  greatly  diminished.  A  very  strong  west  wind.  A  moderately  blowing  east 
wind  carried  the  locusts  in  safety  over  the  Eed  Sea  into  Egypt.  A  storm  or  hurricane 
sweeps  them  out  of  the  country  and  precipitates  them  into  the  waters.  This  is  the 
usual  history  of  these  insects.  A  wind  of  the  sea,  that  is  the  Mediterranean,  taken  as 
a  whole,  though  due  west  of  Palestine,  would  be  north-west  of  the  Delta,  especially  the 
eastern  part  of  it,  and  therefore  exactly  fitted  to  carry  the  locusts  to  the  Ked  Sea. 
And  the  Lord  hardened  PharoKs  heart.  The  very  long-suffering  of  the  Lord  only  adds 
to  the  infatuation  of  his  ingrate  heart. 

21-29.  The  plague  of  darkness.     This  is  the  third  of  this  series,  and,  as  usual,  no 
announcement  of  it  is  made  to  Pharoh.     Let  the  darkness  he  felt ;  a  strong  figure  to  de- 
scribe the  intensity  of  this  darkness.     Similar  is  "  a  thick  darkness,"  literallj'^  a  dark- 
ness of  gloom.     Three  days.     The  only  natural  phenomenon  resembling  this   darkness 
is  the  Simoom  or  Chamsin,  which  is  a  hot  wind  rising  about  the  vernal  equinox,  and 
blowing  for  about  three  days.     It  rises  often  to  a  storm,  imparts  a  yellow  dimness  to 
the  air,  and  raises  such  a  quantity  of  dust  as  to  have  a  stifling  effect  and  produce  a 
sombre  gloom.     During  these  days  the  inhabitants  are  wont  to  descend  to  the  lowest 
rooms  of  their  houses  or  hide  themselves  in  pits  and  caverns  in  order  to  avoid  the 
inconvenience  and  danger  that  attend  this  tempest.     This  darkness  differs,  however, 
from  the  Simoom  in  these  essential  points  :  that  it  is  intense  in  its  degree,  that  it 
falls  upon  the  land  at  the  will  of  Moses,  and  that  it  does  not  extend  to  the  region 
where  the  Israelites  dwelt.     After  all  the  disasters  that  had  just  befallen  the  land, 
we  may  imagine  the  dismay  and  terror  that  total  darkness  would  produce  in  the  minds 
of  the  Egyptians.     It  was  equivalent  to  a  universal  blindness,  which  would  unfit  the 
nation  for  making  any  effort  to  attend  to  the  business  of  life  or  provide  for  its  contin- 
uance.    In  case  of  its  perpetuation  they  could  only  await  in  despair  the  slow  ap- 
proach of  death  by  starvation.     Pharoh  quails  before  the  appalling  darkness.     He 
yields  another  point.  The  women  and  children  may  go  with  the  men,  but  not  the  flocks 
and  the  herds.     Moses,  however,  cannot  go  to  hold  a  national  festival  unto  the  Lord 
without  sacrifices.     Not  a  hoof  of  their  cattle  must  be  left  behind.     Pharoh  is  again 
exasperated.     His  proud  heart  becomes  hard  as    the  nether  millstone.     A  reckless 
madness  takes  possession  of  him.  He  forbids  Moses  to  appear  before  him  again  on  pain 


EXODUS  XI.   1-3.  69 

of  death.  There  is  something  ominous  in  the  reply  of  Moses.  "  Well  hast  thou 
spoken  ;  I  will  see  thy  face  no  more."  He  means,  as  we  shall  see,  more  than  is  here 
expressed. 

There  is  an  awful  significance  in  this  plague  of  darkness.  The  sun  was  a  leadiAg 
object  of  adoration  among  the  Egyptians  under  the  name  of  Osiris.  The  very  name 
Pharoh  means  not  only  the  king,  but  also  the  sun,  and  characterizes  the  king  himself 
as  the  representative  of  the  sun,  and  entitled  in  some  sort  to  divine  honors.  But  now 
the  very  light  of  the  sun  has  disappeared,  and  primeval  chaos  seems  to  have  returned. 
Thus  all  the  forms  of  Egyptian  will-worship  have  been  covered  with  shame  and  con- 
fusion in  those  nine  plagues. 

Allowing  a  week  for  each  of  the  two  previous  plagues,  and  four  days  for  this  one, 
we  are  brought  to  the  21st  of  March,  and  perhaps  to  the  eve  of  that  night  on  which 
the  paschal  lamb  was  eaten  and  the  first-born  of  Egypt  were  slain.  The  narrative 
becomes  now  excited  and  abrupt  as  the  great  crisis  approaches. 


VIII.  THE  TENTH  PLAGUE.— THE  PASSOVER. —Ex.  11,  12. 

CHAP.    XI. — DEATH    OF    THE    FIRST-BORN    THREATENED. 

XI.  1.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Yet  one  plague  will  I  bring  upon  Pharoh 
and  upon  Mizraim  ;  afterward  he  will  let  you  go  hence  :  when  he  shall  let  you  go  alto- 
gether, he  shall  actually  thrust  you  out  hence.  2.  Speak  now  in  the  ears  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  let  them  ask  every  man  of  his  neighbor,  and  every  woman  of  her  neighbor, 
jewels  of  silver  and  jewels  of  gold.  3.  And  the  Loed  gave  the  people  favor  in  the  eyes 
of  Mizraim  :  moreover  the  man  Moses  was  very  great  in  the  land  of  Mizraim  in  the 
eyes  of  Pharoh's  servants,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

4.  And  Moses  said.  Thus  saith  the  Loed,  About  midnight  will  I  come  out  into  the 
midst  of  Mizraim.  5.  And  all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Mizraim  shall  die,  from  the 
first-born  of  Pharoh  that  sitteth  upon  his  throne  unto  the  first-born  of  the  maid-ser- 
vant that  is  behind  the  mill  ;  and  all  the  first-born  of  beasts.  6.  And  there  shall  be 
a  great  cry  in  all  the  land  of  Mizraim,  the  like  of  which  has  not  been,  and  the  like 
shall  not  again  be.  7.  And  against  any  of  the  sons  of  Israel  shall  not  a  dog  move  hi^ 
tongue,  from  man  to  beast  ;  that  ye  may  know  that  the  Loed  doth  sever  between 
Mizraim  and  Israel.  8.  And  all  these  thy  servants  shall  come  down  unto  me  and  bow 
down  to  me,  saying.  Go  out,  thou  and  all  the  people  that  follow  thee  ;  and  after  that 
I  will  go  out.     And  he  went  out  from  Pharoh  in  great  wrath.  §11- 

9.  So  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Pharoh  shall  not  hearken  unto  you,  that  my  won- 
ders may  be  multiplied  in  the  land  of  Mizraim.  10.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  did  all 
these  wonders  before  Pharoh  :  and  the  Lord  hardened  Pharoh's  heart,  and  he  did  not 
let  the  sons  of  Israel  go  out  of  his  land.  §  12. 

The  section  now  before  us  recounts  the  tenth  and  last  stroke  inflicted  on  Pharoh 
and  his  people,  and,  in  essential  connection  therewith,  the  institution  of  the  Pass- 
over. In  the  eleventh  chapter  the  announcement  of  the  slaying  of  the  first-born  is 
made,  as  the  last  words  of  Moses  to  Pharoh. 

1-3.  There  was  in  the  words  of  Moses  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  a  foreboding 
of  something  not  explicitly  stated.  This  is  a  plain  indication  that  another  line  of 
events  was  going  on  concurrently  with  that  which  the  historian  was  engaged  in  nar- 
rating. While  the  long  train  of  interviews  and  transactions  with  Pharoh  has  been 
passing,  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  communication  of  Moses  with  his  own  kindred 


70  DEATH    OF   THE    FIRST-BOKK    THREATENED. 

and  people,  opened  on  his  return  from  Midian  (4  :  29-31  ;  6  : 1-9),  was  entirely  sus- 
pended. On  the  other  hand  we  are  to  presume  that  the  whole  of  the  instructions 
given  to  Moses  (3  :  6-22),  together  with  the  signs  of  his  divine  authority  (4  : 1-9),  were 
in  due  time,  and  with  full  explanations,  laid  before  the  people  ;  that  when  the  first 
barbarities  of  Pharoh  were  relaxed,  these  messages  from  heaven  received  a  respectful 
hearing,  and  that  when  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  repeatedly  displayed  in  inflicting 
chastisements  on  the  Egyptians,  from  which  they  themselves  were  exempted,  they 
began  gradually  to  take  courage,  to  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  make  the  necessary  prep- 
arations for  their  departure.  Indications  of  this  concurrent  process  and  result  now 
begin  to  appear  in  the  narrative.  We  have  only  to  call  to  mind  the  law  of  Hebrew 
narrative,  that  when  one  line  of  events  is  brought  to  a  suitable  resting-place,  the  author 
is  at  liberty  to  go  back  and  take  up  another  line  which  is  necessary  to  the  full  elucida- 
tion of  his  theme.  The  words  of  final  parting  between  Moses  and  Pharoh,  though  not 
perhaps  the  absolute  close  of  the  conversation  between  them,  form  a  striking  pause, 
whether  we  regard  them  from  a  logical  or  a  rhetorical  point  of  view.  Accordingly, 
in  the  paragraph  now  before  us,  we  revert  to  a  point  of  time  before  the  interview  with 
Pharoh  just  recorded,  and  after  the  plague  of  darkness.  This  we  infer  from  the 
intimation  in  the  last  words  of  Moses  of  something  that  was  in  his  memory  more  than 
what  is  expressed.  This  allusion  could  only  be  to  the  communication  recorded  in  the 
present  paragraph  ;  which  is  therefore  now  introduced  to  explain  what  was  hinted  at 
in  the  words  of  Moses  already  given,  and  in  the  remaining  part  of  his  last  address  to 
Pharoh  (vs.  4-8). 

1.  Yet  one  plague.  This  places  the  coming  judgment  in  the  same  class  with  th^ 
nine  that  had  preceded  it,  though  it  differs  form  them  in  the  mode  of  its  infliction, 
and  transcends  them  all  in  the  wound  it  gave  to  the  heart  of  the  nation.  Altogether, 
men,  women,  and  children,  with  all  their  cattle  and  movable  property,  so  far  as  it 
was  convenient  or  necessary  for  them  to  remove  it.  Actually  thrust  you  out,  not  merely 
permit,  but  constrain  you  to  depart.  2.  In  the  ears  of  the  people.  We  are  evidently  got 
into  a  new  line  of  narrative.  This  is  part  of  the  intercourse  of  Moses  with  the  people. 
And  let  them  ask  (3  :  21,  22).  It  is  now  plain  that  asking,  not  borrowing,  is  here  in- 
tended, seeing  that  this  step  is  to  be  taken  when  Pharoh  was  on  the  point  of  driving 
them  out  of  the  country,  never  to  return.  There  could  be  no  pretence  of  a  return 
being  made  in  such  circumstances.  Pharoh  indeed  repented  of  this  course,  and 
returned,  as  he  was  wont,  to  his  old  policy.  But  this  does  not  alter  the  character  of 
Tiis  present  procedure.  3.  The  Lord  gave  the  people  favor.  The  people  of  Egypt  saw  the 
past  scenes  of  tyranny,  obstinacj'-,  and  prevarication  on  the  part  of  Pharoh,  of  suffer- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  Israelites  and  themselves,  and  of  forbearance  and  yet  decision 
in  the  judicial  proceedings  of  God  in  a  very  different  light  from  that  in  which  they 
were  regarded  by  their  sovereign.  Many  of  them  would  sympathize  v/ith  the  perse- 
cuted serfs  ;  many  would  stand  in  awe  of  the  reiterated  strokes  of  the  divine  judg- 
ment ;  and  all  would  feel  the  calamities  that  befell  the  nation  far  more  acutely  than 
Pharoh.  Accordingly,  when  the  warning  was  given  to  bring  in  the  cattle  and  servants, 
lest  they  should  be  destroyed  by  the  hail,  not  a  few  were  found  with  so  much  faith  in 
the  word  of  the  Lord  as  to  attend  to  it,  and  save  their  property.  And  on  a  subsequent 
occasion  the  very  courtiers  ventured  to  tender  the  advice  to  Pharoh  that  he  should 
save  his  country  from  utter  destruction  by  dismissing  the  chosen  people.  Thus,  in 
the  unsearchable  wisdom  of  God,  the  same  train  of  events  that  was  hardening  the 
heart  of  Pharoh,  and  reviving   the  faith  and  courage  of  his  own  people,  was  inclining 


EXODUS   XI.   4-8.  71 

the  Egyptians  to  commiserate  tlie  suffering  people,  and  help  them  to  make  provision 
for  their  journey.  Moreover  the  man  Moses.  The  modesty  of  the  writer  is  plain  in  the 
unadorned  simplicity  of  the  epithet,  "  the  man,"  not  the  minister  of  God,  or  the  leader 
and  deliverer  of  the  nation,  but  "the  man  Moses."  Was  very  great.  After  what  had 
occurred,  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  The  man  who  had  foiled  the  magicians  of  the 
court,  again  and  again  received  the  submission  of  the  sovereign,  and  proved  himself 
to  be  the  messenger  of  heaven  by  a  succession  of  the  most  conspicuous  miracles,  could 
not  but  be  very  great  in  the  eyes  of  the  Egyptians.  And  the  statement  of  this  fact 
does  not  derogate  from  his  claim  to  modesty,  but  only  renders  a  just  tribute  of  praise 
to  him  whose  servant  he  was.  We  have  no  doubt  also  that  the  moderation,  good 
temper,  and  unaffected  patriotism  with  which  he  discharged  his  duty,  commanded  the 
respect  and  esteem  of  Pharoh's  servants  and  people.  We  shall  find  that  the  death  of 
the  first-born  created  such  alarm  for  their  personal  safety  that  they  were  ready  to  sac- 
rifice any  amount  of  personal  property  to  get  rid  of  a  people  whose  detention  had 
brought  such  unparalleled  calamities  on  their  country. 

4-8.  We  are  now  come  up  again  to  the  point  at  which  we  had  arrived,  at  the  close 
of  the  previous  chapter,   and   the    speech  of  Moses  is  continued.     About  midnight. 
This  note  of  time  points  naturally,  though  it  does  not  absolutely  bind  us,  to  the  night 
following  the  day  on  which  this  was  spoken.     We  conceive,  therefore,  that  in  point 
of  fact  this  was  the  fourteenth  Nisan,  or  the  day  before  the  full  moon  immediately 
after  the  vernal  equinox.     At  all  events,  there  is  nothing  in  the  narrative  to  oppose, 
and  something  to  favor  this  view.      Will  I  come  out.     God  is  said  to  come  out  when  he 
proceeds  to  execute  the  purposes  of  his  will  in  any  part  of  his  creation,  which  cannot 
be  regarded  as  his  proper  and  special  residence.     All  the  first-born.     The  first-born  is 
the  hope  and  strength  of  the  house,  its  representative,  and  the  heir  of  its  privileges. 
A  double  portion  falls  to  his  lot,  and  the  patriarchal  and  sacerdotal  functions  origi- 
nally belonged  to  him.  To  slay  the  first-born,  then,  is  the  deadliest  blow  the  household 
can  receive.      Of  Pharoh  that  sitteth  on  the  throne.     The  pride  of  the  haughty  monarch 
will  now  be  brought  low.     The  anguish  will  even  be  more  acute,  if  the  wailing  be  not 
more  loud,  in  the  palace  of  the   king  than  in  the  cottage  of  the  serf.     The  maid-servant 
that  is  behind  the  mill,  the  hand-mill,  which  was  invariably  wrought  by  females,  and 
generally  by  slaves  (12  :  29).     It  consisted  of  two  stones,  the  nether  fixed,  and  the 
upper  movable,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre  to  admit  the  grain,  and  an  upright  wooden 
handle,  by  which  it  was  turned.     The  lower  was  convex,  and  the  upper  concave,  so 
that  the  meal  came  out  at  the  edge,  and  was  received  on  a  cloth.      The  first-born  cf 
beasts.     As  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites  were  to  have  been  detained,  the  cattle  also  of 
the  Egyptians  are  to  suffer.     And  if  there  be  any  first-born  among  the  animals  to 
which  the  Egj'^ptians  pay  divine  honors,  they  also  will  perish.     A  great  cry.     Such  a 
wail  could  have  no  parallel,  unless  all  the  first-born  of  a  nation  were  to  perish  again 
in  one  night.     A  dog  move  his  tongue,  put  his  tongue  in  such  a  form  and  motion  as  to 
snarl,  growl,  or  bark.     This  is  a  proverbial  expression,  to  denote  security  from  even 
the  threat  of  danger.      That  ye  may  know.     This  is  a  lesson  to  Pharoh  and  his  court, 
which  is  now  to  be  repeated  for  the  seventh  time.     Mizraim  represents  the  world  for 
the  time  being,  and  Israel  the  church.     Come  down  to  me  from  the  high  places  of  the 
court  and  the  royal  city.   Boio  down  to  me,  humble  themselves  so  far  as  to  do  obeisance 
to  me.     And  after  that  I  will  go  out.     When  every  proud  heart  will  be  abased,  and  all 
opposition  will  be  broken  down, then  will  I  depart.    Pharoh  had  threatened  the  Lord's 
servant  with  death,  and  now  the    death  of  all  the  first-born  of  Egypt  is  announced  to 


72  THE    PASSOVER. 

its  monarch.  In  great  wrath.  Words  of  deadly  fend  had  passed  between  them. 
Pharoh  had  threatened  Moses  with  death,  simply  because  he  had  demanded  that  the 
cattle  of  the  Israelites  should  go  with  them.  With  what  mingled  alarm  and  indigna- 
tion would  he  listen  to  this  last  awful  menace  of  heaven's  minister.  We  may  infer, 
therefore,  that  there  was  high  wrath  on  both  sides  at  parting. 

9,  10.  These  two  verses  are  a  recapitulation  of  all  that  has  been  related  after  the  in- 
troductory paragraph  in  the  seventh  chapter,  especially  verse  3.  This  verse  is  the 
prediction  ;  the  intervening  narrative  sets  forth  the  details,  and  the  two  verses  now 
before  us  are  the  logical  conclusion  or  summing  up  of  the  whole.  Hence  we  render 
the  conjunctive  particle  at  the  beginning,  by  the  word  so,  as  is  occasionally  done  in 
the  English  version.  This  inferential  summary  could  not  come  in  before  the  speech 
of  Moses,  threatening  the  death  of  the  first-born,  as  this  occurs  at  the  closing  inter- 
view between  him  and  Pharoh,  and  presents  the  latter  with  the  last  occasion  for 
rejecting  the  demands  of  the  Lord.     And  it  could  not  come  in  after  death  of  the 

first-born,  because  then  Pharoh  at  length  yielded,  whereas  these  verses  record  his 
long-continued  resistance.  They  form,  therefore,  the  methodical  recapitulation  of  the 
opposition  of  Pharoh  foretold  by  the  Lord,  when  that  opposition  has  come  to  its  last 
efforts.  "  Pharoh  shall  not  hearken  unto  you,  that  my  wonders  may  be  multiplied  in 
the  land  of  Mizraim,"  for  the  perpetual  instruction  of  mankind  in  certain  sublime  and 
necessary  principles  of  theological  truth.     And  so  it  has  accordngly  hapjDened. 


CHAP.    XII. — THE   PASSOVER.       DEATH   OF   THE    FIRST-BORN. 

2.  li^'in  new  1710071,  day  of  the  new  moon,  month  ;  r.  le  new  f-]-^i  month  from 
^"yi  moon. 

3.  ,-|"iy  assembly  ;  r.  constitute.  A  definitely  constituted  body  of  men,  varying 
in  extent  from  ten  heads  of  houses  to  the  whole  of  the  men  of  Israel  who  are 
entitled  to  vote  in  a  regular  convention  of  the  people.  These  were  most  prob- 
ably all  the  males  above  twenty  years  of  age.  Between  the  full  assembly  and 
that  of  the  heads  of  houses  was  probably  the  representative  convention,  consist- 
ing of  the  princes  of  tribes,  chiefs  of  families,  elders,  and  officers,  each  of  which 
had  its  well-known  province  and  function.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  term 
"  elders"  was  often  employed  to  denote  the  whole  of  these  classes  (vs.  12). 
7,-ip  congregation  ;  r.  gather  together.  This  denotes  the  whole  community  of  Israel, 
including  young  and  old,  male  and  female.  It  is  also  used  to  express  any  body 
of  people  collected  together,  without  reference  to  definite  organization  or  regular 
appointment.  "iyj3  appointed  time  or  place  of  meeting,  appointed  meeting.  This 
is  the  term  constantly  used  in  the  phrase  "s^^  "TIX  ^^^^  ^f  '^^^tinff,  the  tent  at  the 
door  of  which  all  sacred  and  civil  meetings  were  appointed  to  be  held  in  the 
wilderness. 

11.  nCO-  Aram.  5><nCD  ^^^;t<^.  i^^  passover ;  r.  pass  over.  (1.)  The  lamb,  on 
account  of  whose  blood,  sprinkled  on  the  lintel  and  the  posts,  the  Lord  passed 
over  the  Israelites  (vs.  13),  (2.)  The  solemnity  of  which  this  lamb  was  the  sac- 
rifice (Lev.  23  :  5).  (3.)  The  seven  days'  festival,  usually  called  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread,  including  the  proper  passover  or  festival   of   the  preceding 


EXODUS    XII.  73 

evening  (Deut.  16  :  1).     (4.)  The  sacrifices  belonging  to  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  (Deut.  16  :  3  ;  2  Chron.  35  :  1,  7). 

24.   pp,  statute^  edict,  ordinance,  rate.  (vs.  14)  fipii  ;  r.  engrave. 

40.  C^HiJlOS  ^ZlW^  "lIi^^?)  '^^^  sojourned  in  Mizraim.  So  the  Targum  of  Onkelos 
may  also  be  rendered.  But  the  Sept.  has  fjv  Trap6K7]oav  iv  yij  AtyvTrw,  which  they 
sojourned  in  Egpyt.  Against  this  rendering  are  the  following  considerations.  (1.) 
-^^■j^  is  usually  followed  by  the  personal  pronoun  after  the  governing  word  when 
it  stands  for  an  oblique  case,  but  here  it  is  not.  (2.)  n^'i  is  generally  intransi- 
tive, taking  some  preposition  before  the  place  of  abiding,  and  here  it  has  CinHD^ 
and  therefore  does  not  admit  "y^^.  (3.)  When  it  has  a  direct  object,  that 
object  is  the  place  of  abode,  which  it  could  not  be  here.  (4.)  n^'^j^^  after  n^'t 
signifies  a  seat  (Ezek.  28  :  2),  which  it  cannot  do  here.  (5.)  The  cognate  object- 
ive after  'y^i  would  be  p^lTW  ^^  TQ^l)  leather  than  n^'1"]^.  For  these  reasons 
we  adhere  to  the  former  rendering. 

49.  ni'lFl  doctrine,  law,  principle  ;  r.  cast,  hiph.  teach. 

XII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  land  of  Mizraim,  saying, 
2.  This  month  shall  be  unto  you  the  chief  of  months  :  it  shall  be  first  to  you  of  the 
months  of  the  year.  3.  Speak  ye  unto  all  the  assembly  of  Israel,  saying,  In  the  tenth 
day  of  this  month  they  shall  take  to  them  every  man  a  lamb,  according  to  father's 
houses,  a  lamb  for  the  house.  4.  And  if  the  house  be  too  little  for  the  lamb,  let  him 
and  his  neighbor  next  unto  his  house  take  it,  according  to  the  number  of  souls  ; 
every  man  according  to  his  eating  ye  shall  count  for  the  lamb.  5.  Your  lamb  shall 
be  without  blemish,  a  male  of  the  first  year  ;  from  the  sheep  or  from  the  goats  ye  shall 
take  it.  6.  And  ye  shall  keep  it  until  the  fourteenth  day  of  this  month  ;  and  the 
whole  congregation  of  the  assembly  of  Israel  shall  kill  it  between  the  evenings.  7. 
And  they  shall  take  of  the  blood,  and  put  it  on  the  two  posts  and  on  the  lintel,  upon 
the  houses  in  which  they  shall  eac  it.  8.  And  they  shall  eat  the  flesh  on  this  night  ; 
roast  with  fire  and  with  unleavened  bread,  on  bitter  herbs  shall  ye  eat  it.  9.  Ye 
shall  not  eat  of  it  raw,  or  sodden  at  all  with  water  ;  but  roast  with  fire,  its  head  with  its 
legs  and  its  inwards.  10.  And  ye  shall  not  leave  of  it  until  the  morning,  and  that 
which  is  left  of  it  until  the  morning  ye  shall  burn  with  fire.  11.  And  thus  shall  ye 
eat  of  it,  with  your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on  your  feet,  and  your  stafi  in  your 
hand  :  and  ye  shall  eat  it  in  haste,  it  is  the  Lord's  passover. 

12.  And  I  will  pass  through  the  land  of  Mizraim  this  night,  and  will  smite  all  the 
first-born  in  the  land  of  Mizraim,  from  man  to  beast,  and  on  all  the  gods  of  Mizraim 
I  will  execute  judgments  ;  I  am  the  Lord.  13.  And  the  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a 
token  upon  the  houses  where  ye  are  ;  and  I  will  look  upon  the  blood  and  pass  over 
you  :  and  there  shall  be  no  stroke  of  destruction  on  you  when  I  smite  the  land  of 
Mizraim.  14.  And  this  day  shall  be  unto  you  for  a  memorial,  and  ye  shall  keep  it  a 
feast  to  the  Lord  ;  in  your  generations  ye  shall  keep  it  as  an  ordinance  for  ever. 

15.  Seven  days  shall  ye  eat  unleavened  bread  ;  even  the  first  day  ye  shall  put  away 
leaven  out  of  your  houses  :  for  whosoever  eateth  leavened  bread,  that  soul  shall  be 
cut  off  from  Israel  from  the  first  day  until  the  seventh  day.  16.  And  in  the  first  day 
shall  be  a  holy  convocation,  and  in  the  seventh  day  a  holy  convocation  to  you  :  no 
work  shall  be  done  in  them  :  only  that  Avhich  every  soul  must  eat,  that  alone  may  be 
done  of  you.  17.  And  ye  shall  observe  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  ;  for  in  this  self- 
same day  I  shall  have  brought  your  hosts  OTit  of  the  land  of  Mizraim  :  and  ye  shall 
observe  this  day  in  your  generations  as  an  ordinance  for  ever.  18.  In  the  first  month 
on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month,  at  even,  ye  shall  eat  unleavened  bread,  until  the 
one-and-twentieth  day  of  the  month  at  even.  19.  Seven  days  leaven  shall  not  be 
found  in  your  houses  ;  for  whosoever  eateth  that  which  is  leavened,  that  soul  shall 
be  cut  off  from  the  assembly  of  Israel,  whether  he  be  a  stranger  or  born  in  the  land. 
20.  Nothing  leavened  shall  ye  eat  ;  in  all  your  dwellings  ye  shall  eat  unleavened 
bread.  H  16. 


74  THE    PASSOVER. 

21.  Then  Moses  called  for  all  the  elders  of  Israel  and  said  unto  them,  Draw  out  and 
take  you  a  lamb  according  to  your  families,  and  kill  the  passover.  22.  And  ye  shall 
take  a  bunch  of  hyssop  and  dip  in  the  blood  which  is  in  the  bason,  and  strike  the 
lintel  and  the  two  posts  with  the  blood  that  is  in  the  bason  :  and  none  of  you  shall 
come  out  from  the  door  of  his  house  until  the  morning.  23.  And  the  Lord  will  pass 
through  to  smite  Mizraim,  and  shall  see  the  blood  upon  the  lintel,  and  on  the  two 
posts  :  and  the  Lord  will  pass  over  the  door,  and  will  not  suffer  the  destroyer  to  go 
into  your  houses  to  smite  you.  24.  And  ye  shall  observe  this  thing,  for  an  ordinance 
to  thee  and  to  thy  sons  for  ever.  25.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  you  go  into  the 
land  which  the  Lord  will  give  you  as  he  hath  spoken,  that  ye  shall  keep  this  service. 
26.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  when  your  sons  shall  say  unto  you.  What  mean  ye  by 
this  service  ?  27,  Then  ye  shall  say,  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Loed's  passover,  who 
passed  over  the  houses  of  the  sons  of  Israel  in  Mizraim,  when  he  smote  Mizraim  and 
delivered  our  houses.  And  the  people  bent  the  head  and  worshipped.  28.  And 
the  sons  of  Israel  went  and  did  so  ;  as  the  Lobd  commanded  Moses  and  Aaron,  so  did 
they.         §  13. 

29.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  midnight  that  the  Lord  smote  all  the  first-born  in  the 
land  of  Mizraim,  from  the  first-born  of  Pharoh  that  sat  on  the  throne  unto  the  first- 
born of  the  captive  that  was  in  the  dungeon,  and  all  the  first-born  of  cattle.  30.  And 
Pharoh  rose  up  in  the  night,  he  and  all  his  servants  and  all  Mizraim  ;  and  there  was  a 
great  cry  in  Mizraim  ;  for  there  was  not  a  house  where  there  was  not  one  dead.  31. 
And  he  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron  by  night,  and  said,  Eise  up,  go  forth  from  among 
my  people,  both  ye  and  the  sons  of  Israel  :  and  go,  serve  the  Lord,  as  ye  have 
spoken.  32.  Take  your  flocks  also  and  your  herds,  as  ye  have  sjooken,  and  go  ;  and 
bless  me  also.  33.  And  Mizraim  urged  the  people  to  send  them  out  of  the  land  in 
haste  ;  for  they  said.  We  shall  be  all  dead.  34.  And  the  people  took  up  their  dough 
before  it  was  leavened,  their  kneading-troughs  being  bound  up  in  their  garments 
upon  their  shoulders.  35.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  did  according  to  the  word  of 
Moses  ;  and  they  asked  of  Mizraim  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels  of  gold,  and  garments. 
36.  And  the  Loed  gave  the  people  favor  in  the  eyes  of  Mizraim  and  they  gave  them  ; 
and  they  spoiled  Mizraim.  If  17. 

37.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  journeyed  from  Eameses  to  Sukkoth  about  six  hundred 
thousand  foot,  the  men  apart  from  the  little  ones.  38.  And  a  mixed  multitude  also 
went  up  with  them,  and  flocks  and  herds,  even  very  much  cattle.  39.  And  they  baked 
the  dough  which  they  brought  out  of  Mizraim  into  unleavened  cakes,  for  it  was  not 
leavened  :  because  they  were  thrust  out  of  Mizraim  and  could  not  tarry,  and  they  had 
not  made  for  themselves  any  provision.  40.  And  the  sojourning  of  the  sons  of  Israel, 
who  sojourned  in  Mizraim,  was  thirty  and  four  hundred  years.  41.  And  it  was  after 
the  end  of  thirty  and  four  hundred  years,  and  it  was  on  the  self-same  day  that  all  the 
hosts  of  the  Loed  came  out  from  the  land  of  Mizraim.  42.  It  is  a  night  of  observance 
unto  the  Loed  for  bringing  them  out  from  the  land  of  Mizraim  ;  such  is  this  night  of 
the  Loed  to  be  observed  hj  all  the  sons  of  Israel  in  their  generations.  IT  18. 

43.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses  and  Aaron,  This  is  the  ordinance  of  the  passover, 
no  alien  shall  eat  thereof.  44.  And  every  man's  servant  that  is  bought  with  money, 
when  thou  hast  circumcised  him,  then  shall  he  eat  thereof.  45.  A  sojourner  and  a 
hireling  shall  not  eat  thereof.  46.  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten  :  thou  shalt  not 
bring  aught  of  the  flesh  out  of  the  house  abroad,  and  a  bone  thereof  ye  shall  not  break. 
47.  All  the  assembly  of  Israel  shall  keep  it.  48.  And  when  a  stranger  sojourneth 
with  thee  and  will  keep  the  passover  to  the  Loed,  let  all  his  males  be  circumcised,  and 
then  let  him  come  near  to  keep  it,  and  he  shall  be  as  one  born  in  the  land  :  and  no 
uncircumcised  person  shall  eat  thereof.  49.  One  law  shall  be  to  the  home-born  and 
to  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  among  you.  50.  Thus  did  all  the  sons  of  Israel  :  as 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses  and  Aaron,  so  did  they.  §  14. 

51.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  self-same  day  that  the  Loed  brought  the  sons  of  Is- 
rael out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim  by  their  hosts.  H  19. 

This  chapter  contains  the  divine  order  for  the  institution  of  the  passover,  the  di- 
rections given  by  Moses  to  the  people  and  their  compliance  with  them,  the  death  of 
the  first-born  in  Egypt,  and  the  dismissal  of  the  enslaved  people,  the  date  of  their 
departure,  and  the  determination  of  the  parties  who  are  admissible  to  the  passover. 


1 


EXODUS  XII.   1-3.  75 

1-20.  The  divine  ordinance  concerning  the  passover.  The  parting  interview  be- 
tween Moses  and  Pharoh  may  have  taken  place  on  the  14th  Nisan.  In  the  present 
chapter  a  new  line  of  events  is  taken  up.  It  belongs  to  the  intercourse,  not  of  Moses 
and  Pharoh,  but  of  Moses  and  the  people.  "We  therefore  go  back  to  the  beginning  of 
Nisan,  which  we  have  supposed  to  be  about  the  8th  of  March  at  the  earliest.  At  this 
time  it  may  be  presumed  the  plague  of  hail  had  been  removed,  and  those  of  the  lo- 
custs and  the  darkness  had  yet  to  come  on. 

1.  In  the  land  of  Mizraim.  This  note  of  place  would  have  been  unnecessary  if  the 
writer  had  not  passed  from  Egypt  into  the  wilderness  since  the  preceding  chapter  was 
indited.  It  is,  therefore,  an  intimation  that  this  portion  of  the  narrative  was  not 
committed  to  writing  till  after  the  exodus  had  taken  place.  It  thus  affords  an  inci- 
dental presumption  that  the  narrative  was  com.posed  by  an  eye-witness.  This  month. 
The  term  here  employed  denotes  the  new  moon,  and  hence  the  day  of  the  new  moon, 
or  first  day  of  the  month,  and  lastly  the  month  as  defined  in  its  commencement  by 
the  new  moon.  It  appears  to  denote  here  the  beginning  of  the  month.  The  chief  of 
months  ;  the  most  important  among  the  months  on  account  of  the  great  event  which 
was  about  to  take  place  in  it.  It  shall  he  first.  Israel  was  henceforth  to  have  a  sacred 
year  beginning  with  this  month,  which  was  the  seventh  of  the  old  civil  or  common 
year  (see  on  Gen.  2:6;  7  :  11).  From  this  accordingly  the  months  are  henceforth 
counted,  so  that  the  old  first  month  becomes  the  seventh  of  the  sacred  year,  though 
its  first  day  is  still  distinguished  as  a  festival  by  the  blowing  of  trumpets  and  certain 
special  sacrifices  (Lev.  23  :  23-25  ;  Num.  29  : 1-6). 

3.  All  the  assembly.  Three  words  are  with  more  or  less  constancy  rendered  congre- 
gation in  our  English  version,  ,"i"]y,  7np»  ^^*^1l?D-  ^^  shall,  by  way  of  distinction, 
translate  them  respectively  by  the  words  assembly,  congregation,  and  meeting,  which 
are  already  used  without  exact  discrimination  in  our  present  version.  By  assembly 
or  convention  we  understand  a  body  of  men  organized  for  common  counsel  or  action. 
By  congregation  or  community  we  understand  a  more  general  body  or  gathering  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  having  common  privileges,  civil  and  sacred,  but  not  all 
called  upon  or  entitled  to  vote  or  act  in  public  affairs.  In  the  former  term,  regular 
organization  is  the  prominent  characteristic  ;  in  the  latter  the  custom  of  assembling 
together.  The  commonwealth  of  Israel  may  be  designated  by  either,  according  to  the 
different  way  in  which  it  may  be  viewed.  It  is  obviously  regarded  in  our  text  as  a 
unity,  having  its  natural  centre  in  Jacob  and  its  spiritual  centre  in  Israel,  and  in  him 
of  whom  Israel  was  the  type.  By  meeting  or  appointment  is  to  be  understood  a 
stated  m.eeting  or  gathering  for  a  great  solemn  occasion  (39  :  42,  43).  Li  the  tenth  day 
of  this  month.  From  the  third  to  the  tenth  of  Nisan  the  plague  of  locusts  ran  its 
course.  The  days  intervening  between  the  tenth  and  the  fourteenth  were  probably 
the  days  of  darkness.  This  was  perhaps  the  proximate  reason  for  choosing  the  lamb 
on  the  tenth.  At  the  same  time  ten  is  the  symbol  of  completeness  ;  and  the  tenth 
day  completes  the  third  of  the  month,  as  the  night  of  (that  is,  before)  the  fifteenth 
completes  the  half  of  the  month.  The  day  of  atonement  was  in  like  manner  on  the 
tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month  (Lev.  23  :  27).  Every  man  a  lamb,  a  young  animal  of 
the  sheep  or  of  the  goats  (vs.  5  ;  2  Chron.  35  :  7),  though  in  latter  times  it  came  to  be 
invariably  the  young  of  a  sheep.  According  to  father's  houses,  or  smaller  families.  The 
family  organization  was  very  exact  among  the  Israelites.  Under  the  twelve  tribes 
were  the  clans  or  families  (nin9ti^/0)  '  ^^<^6i'  these  the  father's  houses  (ni-ij^  n''3) 
or  smaller  families,  and  under  these  the  several  distinct  households  of  which  they 


76  THE    PASSOVER   INSTITUTED. 

consisted.  A  lamlyfor  the  house.  This  is  the  single  household,  which  forms  the  social 
unit  in  the  subdivisions  of  Israel.  4.  And  if  the  house  he  too  little  for  the  lamh.  The 
Jewish  tradition  was  that  a  man  ate  the  size  of  an  olive  of  the  paschal  lamb,  in  which 
case  a  whole  lamb  would  be  sufficient  for  a  very  large  household.  In  the  Targum 
Jonathan,  ten  is  given  as  the  least  number  for  a  paschal  company.  Josephus  assigns 
ten  as  the  least  number  and  twenty  as  not  uncommon  (Wars  of  the  Jews,  vi.  9,  3). 
The  Mishna  says,  "  A  paschal  sacrifice  may  not  be  slaughtered  for  a  single  individual 
only.  It  may  not  be  slaughtered  even  for  a  party  of  a  hundred  individuals,  if  each  of 
them  cannot  eat  thereof  the  minimum  quantity  of  the  size  of  an  olive."  This  im- 
plies that  a  hundred  might  partake  of  the  one  lamb.  At  the  last  supper  of  our  Lord 
and  his  disciples,  thirteen  full-grown  men  were  present.  This  would  give  an  average 
of  about  twenty  persons,  if  women  and  children  were  included. 

5.  Without  blemish.  The  lamb  is  the  substitute,  at  least  in  type,  of  the  first-born, 
and  is  therefore  to  be  perfect  of  its  kind.  A  male  of  the  first  year.  The  male  ranks 
before  the  female,  and  is  therefore  employed  to  figure  a  sufficient  sacrifice.  The  phrase 
"  son  of  a  year"  means  of  any  age  from  a  month  to  a  full  year  (Gen.  7  :  6,  11). 

Until  the  fourteenth  day.  If,  as  we  presume,  the  three  days  of  darkness  came  between 
the  tenth  and  the  fourteenth,  though  the  Israelites  had  light,  as  in  ordinary  days,  it 
was  desirable  that  the  lamb  should  be  set  apart  on  the  tenth  day,  that  there  might  be 
nothing  to  do  on  the  fourteenth  day  but  prepare  it  for  sacrifice.  During  those  awful 
days,  when  darkness,  the  symbol  of  chaos,  brooded  over  Egypt,  the  Israelites  had  the 
lamb  as  the  sign  and  pledge  of  the  divine  promise  that  this  darkness  would  spread  no 
farther,  but  would  at  length  give  way  to  a  new  period  of  light  and  life  and  hope.  And 
doubtless  they  would  have  occasion,  on  contemplating  this  devoted  victim,  to  con- 
verse with  one  another  concerning  the  great  deliverance  which  was  before  them  (see 
Fagius  in  Grit.  Sac).  But  instruction  and  edification  were  not  limited  to  those  three 
days.  They  pervade  all  time,  but  especially  those  great  occasions  on  which  God  man- 
ifests his  power  in  the  works  of  justice  and  mercy.  Hence  every  event  in  this  great 
deliverance  has  its  definite  lesson  to  all  parties  concerned,  if  they  will  but  learn  it. 
The  whole  congregation  of  the  assembly  of  Israel.  A  congregation  is  any  gathering  or 
number  of  people  that  may  be  gathered.  The  congregation  of  an  assembly  is  the 
company  of  those  who  belong  to  an  organized  or  orderly  community,  having  a  com- 
mon head,  a  representative  assembly,  and  a  law  of  action.  The  word  Israel  defines 
the  nation,  and  the  word  all  embraces  every  member  of  it.  Not  to  partake  of  the 
passover  on  this  occasion  was  to  be  excommunicated,  unless  there  was  some  invinci- 
ble hinderance.  The  whole  congregation  are  here  priests  unto  God.  Shall  kill  it,  as  a 
typical  substitute  for  the  first-born,  a  symbol  of  propitiation  by  the  death  of  another. 
Betvjeen  the  evenings.  The  lamb  seems  to  have  been  slain  before  sunset  and  eaten  after 
(see  on  Gen.  1  :  4), 

7.  Put  it  on  the  two  posts  and  on  the  lintel.  By  the  door  the  destroyer  enters  to  slay 
the  first-born.  Hence  the  blood  that  indicates  faith  and  represents  atonement  is 
sprinkled  on  the  fixed  boundaries  of  the  doorway,  except  the  threshold,  on  which  the 
foot  treads.  It  is  not  sprinkled  on  the  door-leaf  itself,  which  may  have  been  in  many 
cases  altogether  wanting,  and  was  always  less  permanent  than  the  lintel  and  posts  in 
the  booths  and  other  slight  habitations  of  a  pastoral  people  (vs.  8,  9).  And  they  shall 
eat.  As  the  sacrificing  of  the  paschal  lamb  is  a  symbol  of  the  redemption,  by  which 
the  death-penalty  due  by  one  is  paid  by  another,  so  the  eating  of  it  is  a  figure  of  the 
participation  of  pardon,  acceptance,  and  full  blessedness  consequent  upon  the  atone- 


EXODUS   XEI.    10.  77 

ment  being  made  and  the  law  being  satisfied.  Boast  idihfire  ;  not  raw,  that  is,  unfit  for 
use,  and  therefore  for  representing  spiritual  enjoyment  ;  nor  sodden  with  water,  de- 
prived of  any  portion  of  its  savor,  and  thus  not  so  well  adapted  to  express  complete 
happiness  ;  but  roast  with  fire,  submitted  to  the  direct  influence  of  fire,  retaining  the 
integrity  of  its  strength  and  flavor,  consequently  shadowing  forth  not  only  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  sacrifice,  but  also  the  perfection  of  the  salvation  thereby  obtained. 
Unleavened  bread.  Bread  is  the  staff  of  life  (Lev.  26  :  26).  Leaven  is  a  mass  of  sour 
doiigh  in  which  decomposition  has  set  in,  and  is  therefore  the  symbol  of  corruption 
(1  Cor.  5  : 8).  Hence  unleavened  bread  is  the  emblem  of  purity  and  life.  07i  Miter 
lierhs.  These  appear  to  form  the  basis  of  the  repast,  on  which  the  other  materials  rest. 
In  the  Mishna  five  different  kinds  of  bitter  herbs  are  mentioned,  among  which  are 
lettuce  and  endive.  The  bitter  herbs  convey  no  obscure  allusion  to  the  bitterness  of 
Egyptian  bondage,  and  of  the  bondage  of  sin  in  general.  Its  head,  loith  its  legs  and  its 
inwards.  It  is  plain  that  it  was  to  be  roasted  whole,  without  breaking  or  severing  any 
of  the  bones.  This  involved  the  necessity  of  its  being  roasted  on  a  spit  before  the 
fire,  as  the  people  could  not  be  generally  provided  with  vessels  large  enough  to  con- 
tain it  whole.  And  it  was  strikingly  expressive  of  the  unity  of  the  sacrifice— of  the 
salvation  which  it  prefigured,  and  of  the  people  who  partook  of  it  (Ps.  34  :  20  ;  1  Cor. 
5:7;  10:17). 

10.  Ye  shall  not  leave  of  it  until  the  morning.  It  was,  if  possible,  to  be  entirely  con- 
sumed. But  if  any  portion  was  left,  it  was  to  be  burnt  with  fire.  This  was  the  rule  for 
all  sacrificial  meals,  except  the  vow  or  voluntary  offering  (Lev. 7  :  15-17).  This  seems 
to  indicate  that  they  were  sacred  to  the  one  purpose,  and  therefore  not  to  be  applied 
to  any  profane  or  further  use.  The  atonement  and  the  salvation  following  are  to  be 
aU-sufficient,  yet  not  more  than  sufficient.  And  thus  shall  ye  eat  it,  imth  your  loins 
girded,  as  those  who  are  equipped  for  expeditious  travelling  ;  your  shoes  on  your  feet, 
as  those  who  are  prepared  for  rough  and  untrodden  paths  ;  your  staff  in  your  hand,  as 
a  protection  and  a  support  on  the  journey  ;  in  haste,  as  those  who  do  not  know  the 
moment  when  they  must  set  out.  Here  we  have  a  reality  which  is  a  true  type  of  the 
readiness  with  which  the  redeemed  should  wait  for  other  and  higher  journeys  than 
that  which  was  now  before  the  Israelites.  It  is  the  Lord's  passover.  The  festival  now 
described  is  a  feast  of  passing  over  in  sparing  mercy,  instituted  by  the  Lord  himself, 
and  to  be  observed  by  all  his  people  in  obedience  to  his  word.  As  is  usual  with  the 
first  observance  of  any  institution,  there  are  many  incidental  circumstances  that  do 
not  occur  in  the  subsequent  observance  of  it.  The  essential  parts  of  this  solemnity 
are  the  lamb,  the  time  of  sacrificing  and  eating  it,  the  unleavened  bread  and  bitter 
herbs,  the  seven  days'  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  The  keeping  up  from  the  tenth  day 
was  aftei-vvard  omitted  ;  the  domestic  observance  by  the  men,  women,  and  children 
was  succeeded  by  the  celebration  at  the  place  which  the  Lord  had  chosen  (Deut. 
16  : 6)  by  the  men  only  or  chiefly  ;  the  lamb  was  slain  by  the  house  father  or  the 
priest  ;  the  blood  was  sprinkled,  not  on  the  lintel  and  posts  of  the  house,  but  appar- 
ently on  the  altar  (2  Chron.  30  :  16  ;  35  :  11)  ;  and  the  attire  and  attitude  of  haste  and 
readiness  for  travelling  were  afterward  omitted. 

(1.)  Of  the  three  things  essential  to  the  salvation  of  a  fallen  creature,  two  are  repre- 
sented by  circumcision  and  the  passover— regeneration  and  redemption.  (2. )  Circum- 
cision denotes  the  new  birth,  without  indicating  any  of  its  fruits.  The  passover,  like 
all  sacrificial  feasts,  points  out  not  only  the  act,  but  the  effect .  of  redemption.  The 
slaying  of  the  lamb  is  the  act,  being  the  giving  up  of  the  life  of  one  for  another  ;  the 


78  THE    PASSOVER   INSTITUTED. 

eating  of  the  sacrifice  is  the  effect,  being  the  reception  of  the  rights  and  enjoyments 
recovered  on  its  death.  (3. )  Circumcision,  signifying  that  which  is  inward,  applies  to 
each  individual  apart,  and  is  therefore  a  solitary  ordinance  ;  the  passover,  standing 
for  that  which  is  outward,  is  equally  adapted  to  all  who  are  circumcised,  and  is  there- 
fore a  social  ordinance,  exhibiting  the  communion  of  saints.  Hence  the  former  began 
suitably  with  Abraham,  when  he  was  alone,  before  he  became  the  father  of  the  faith- 
ful ;  the  latter  appropriately  with  Israel,  after  he  had  become  a  nation.  (4.)  In  cir- 
cumcision, which  shadows  forth  the  new  birth,  the  recipient  is  passive  ;  in  the  pass- 
over,  which  implies  the  voluntary  partaking  of  the  sacrifice,  the  recipient  is  active. 
(5.)  Circumcision,  symbolizing  the  new  birth,  is  not  to  be  repeated  ;  the  passover,  as 
a  sacrifice,  represents  that  sacrifice  which  is  to  be  offered  once  for  all,  but  as  a  feast, 
it  sets  forth  the  constant  fare  by  which  the  soul  is  sustained,  and  is  therefore  repeated 
from  year  to  year.  (6.)  Circumcision,  the  symbol  of  the  new  nature,  was  not  preceded 
by  any  other  sign  of  like  import.  The  passover,  being  a  kind  of  sacrifice,  was  pre- 
ceded by  the  sacrifices  of  Habel,  Noah,  Abraham,  and  other  patriarchs,  all  prefiguring 
that  great  redeeming  sacrifice  which  was  to  be  offered  in  the  fulness  of  time.  (7.) 
Circumcision  was  to  continue  as  long  as  the  visible  church  was  limited  to  the  natural 
or  adopted  descendants  of  Israel  ;  the  passover  was  to  be  observed  until  the  true 
Lamb  of  God  should  come,  of  which  it  was  only  the  type.  (8.)  Eegeneration  and 
redemption  are  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  man  from  the  date  of  the  fall  to  that  of 
the  resurrection,  and  therefore  belonged  to  the  experience  of  the  saints  before  these 
symbols  were  instituted.  "VVe  have  seen  that  the  symbol  of  redemption  varied  accord- 
ing to  the  varying  aspects  which  its  historical  progress  presented.  The  joassover  an- 
sv/ers  to  a  new  iDhase  of  redemption  not  within  the  experience  of  the  patriarchs.  This 
leads  us  to  expect  that  other  symbols  may  be  substituted  for  those  of  the  law  of  Moses, 
when  the  realities  for  which  they  stand  reach  a  new  stage  of  development.  (9.)  The 
event  w^hich  gave  occasion  to  the  institution  of  the  passover  was  a  temporal  redemp- 
tion, and  therefore  itself  but  a  type  and  foretaste  of  that  eternal  redemption  which 
transcends  all  its  temporal  forms  as  far  as  the  bondage  of  inward  guilt  transcends  that 
of  outward  force.  This  brings  before  us  the  vast  import  and  grandeur  of  the  present 
turning-point  in  the  history  of  God's  people,  in  regard  not  only  to  what  it  is  in  itself, 
but  to  what  it  prefigures  in  the  history  of  salvation.  (10.)  The  passover  is  an  advance 
on  all  preceding  sacrifices  ;  as  it  signalizes  the  eating  of  the  sacrifice,  and  therefore 
the  enjoyment  of  the  benefits  of  redemption,  the  rest,  the  land  of  rest,  the  better  land  ; 
it  is  a  periodical  festival,  and  thereby  represents  the  perpetuity  of  the  heavenly  sus- 
tenance ;  and  it  is  commemorative  of  a  great  typical  deliverance. 

12-15.  The  immediate  benefit  realized  by  those  who  keep  this  ordinance.  I  xoUl 
pass  through.  The  Lord  himself,  without  the  intervention  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  is  to 
execute  this  awful  judgment.  This  night  The  night  after  the  14th  of  Nisam,  the  pre- 
vious transactions  of  which  have  just  been  described.  All  the  first-born,  from  man  to 
least.  The  first-born  is  the  beginning  and  the  hope  of  the  family  (Gen.  49  :  3).  To 
smite  the  first-born  is  to  begin  the  annihilation  of  the  race.  The  cattle  came  also  un- 
der this  judgment.  All  the  gods  of  Mizraim.  The  bull,  the  goat,  the  ram,  and  other 
animals  were  deified  by  the  Egyptians.  The  king  was  also  regarded  as  an  impersona- 
tion of  the  sun-god.  The  extinction  of  all  these  creature  gods  will  be  menaced,  as 
well  as  in  part  executed,  by  the  death  of  their  first-born.  I  am  the  Lord,  the  maker, 
and  therefore  the  absolute  disposer,  of  all  things  :  who  speaks,  and  it  is  done.  The 
Lord  is  emphatically  the  performer,  who  gives  effect  to  his  word,  whether  of  threaten- 


EXODUS  XII.   15-20.  79 

ing  or  of  promise.  The  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token,  a  token  of  redemption,  of  ac- 
ceptance, and  safety.  And  pass  over  you.  Here  is  the  origin  of  the  term  passover. 
I  will  pass  over  you,  for  whom  another  has,  by  a  type,  shed  his  blood,  and  who  are 
therefore  freed  from  the  penalty  of  the  law.  For  a  memorial.  At  this  time  every  year 
3'ou  will  commemorate  with  thankfulness  your  present  and  perpetual  deliverance. 
Keep  it  a  feast,  a  day  of  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving  for  freedom  and  prosperity,  to  be 
celebrated  according  to  the  general  rules  laid  down  by  the  Lord.  An  ordinance  forever, 
a  perpetual  ordinance,  lasting  in  its  form  as  long  as  Israel  is  the  peculiar  people  ;  in 
its  principle  as  long  as  the  state  of  redemption  which  it  celebrates,  and  therefore  ab- 
solutely for  ever. 

15-20.  The  institution  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  Seven  days  ;  a  sacred  num- 
ber of  days,  in  token  of  entire  and  perpetual  consecration  to  God.  Eat  unleavened 
bread  (vs.  8).  Unleavened  bread  is  the  symbol  of  a  holy  fare.  To  eat  unleavened 
bread  is  the  symbol  of  a  holy  life,  becoming  those  who  have  exercised  faith  in  God,  the 
blessed  fruit  of  a  new  nature.  After  redemption  accepted  comes  obedience  rendered. 
Even  the  first  day  of  the  seven.  As  this  day  commenced  at  the  sunset  of  the  llth  of 
Nisan,  the  removal  of  the  leaven  must  have  been  effected  on  that  day.  Put  away  leaven 
out  of  your  houses.  This  denotes  the  avoidance  of  all  contact  with  sin,  and  of  all  temp- 
tation to  it.  That  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  Israel.  This  is  excommunication  or  exclu- 
sion from  the  visible  community  of  God's  people.  It  involved  the  loss  of  all  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  chosen  people.  It  was  in  certain  cases  accompanied  with  the  penalty  of 
death,  but  not  in  others.  We  cannot  suppose  that  an  uncircumcised  infant  was  on 
that  account  to  be  put  to  death,  as  the  fault  was  in  the  parent  (Gen.  17  :  14).  It  is  a 
type  of  eternal  separation  from  the  family  of  heaven.  From  the  first  day  until  the  seventh 
day.  This  is  placed  last  to  intimate  that  the  excommunication  is  to  take  place  when- 
ever the  offence  has  been  once  committed  during  these  seven  days,  and  not  to  be  de- 
layed till  the  expiration  of  the  festival. 

16.  In  the  first  day,  the  15th  of  Nisan.  A  holy  convocation.  The  convocation  of 
holiness  (ti^1p""K~lpD)  ^^^  ^^  assembly  for  religious  purposes,  in  which  the  people  of 
a  neighborhood  worshipped  God  by  praise  and  prayer,  and  it  may  be,  even  from  an 
early  period,  heard  portions  of  the  written  word  read  and  expounded,  and  applied  to 
the  regulation  of  life.  This  convocation  was  the  origin  of  the  synagogue,  a  term 
which  originally  denoted  the  assembly,  and  not  the  place  of  assembly.  They  were 
doubtless  at  first  held  in  the  open  air,  in  the  place  where  it  was  customary  for  the 
people  of  the  district  to  assemble.  This  was  probably  a  natural  green  area  set  apart 
for  civil  and  sacred  meetings,  like  the  fair  green  or  square  of  a  country  town.  The 
days  on  which  holy  convocations  were  held  were  Sabbaths  ;  no  uoork  shall  be  done  in 
them  except  the  works  of  necessity.  Only  that  which  every  soul  must  eat.  We  learn  from 
Lev.  23  and  Num.  28,  29,  that  the  weekly  Sabbaths,  the  first  and  seventh  days  of  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread,  the  day  of  pentecost,  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month, 
the  day  of  atonement,  the  first  and  the  eighth  days  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  were 
days  of  holy  convocation.  Accordingly,  there  were  in  the  ordinary  year  of  Israel 
seven  days  in  which  no  work  was  done,  besides  the  weekly  Sabbaths.  Yet  the  weekly 
Sabbath  and  the  Sabbath  of  the  day  of  atonement  were  distinguished  by  a  cessation 
of  all  business  from  the  other  six  Sabbaths,  on  which  an  abstinence  from  the  business 
of  labor  only  was  required.     (See  chapters  quoted.) 

17-20.  This  is  to  be  a  pei-petual  feast.  In  this  self-same  day.  The  first  day  of  un- 
leavened bread,  for  it  is  the  day  of  their  deliverance.     /  shall  have  brought  your  hosts. 


80  THE    PASSOVER   IJq^STITUTED. 

The  men  above  twenty  years  of  age  will  march  in  battle  array  out  of  the  land  (13  :  18). 
An  ordinance  for  ever.  See  vs.  14,  18-20.  The  time  of  eating  unleavened  bread  is  here 
more  precisely  defined.  The  prohibition  is  expressed  also  with  more  detail.  A 
stranger.  The  strangers  were  afterward  distinguished  into  two  classes  :  proselytes  of 
righteousness  (p~^n  i"l?l).  who  were  circumcised,  and  so  fully  incorporated  into  the 
theocratic  state,  and  entitled  to  all  its  privileges  :  and  proselytes  of  the  gate 
(nyii^n  ''~l!l''  ^^^  were  not  circumcised,  but  acknowledged  the  one  true  and  living 
God  in  common  with  Israel,  and  confessed  themselves  bound  to  observe  what  were 
called  the  seven  laws  of  Noah,  that  were  binding  on  all  men.  These  prohibited  blas- 
phemy, idolatry,  murder,  incest,  plunder,  disobedience  to  the  state,  and  the  eating  of 
flesh  cut  from  a  living  beast.  All  these,  with  the  exception  of  the  interdiction  of  in- 
cest, and  perhaps  plunder,  may  be  fairly  deduced  from  Gen.  9  :  1-7,  in  conjunction 
with  the  preceding  portion  of  the  written  word  ;  in  other  words,  from  the  second 
Bible  of  mankind,  which  terminates  with  the  ninth  chapter  of  Genesis,  or  with  Gen. 
11  :  9.  This  is  no  dark  intimation  that  the  Jews,  even  of  a  late  period  (Talmud,  from 
200  to  500  A.c),  remembered  and  recognized  the  Noachic  or  general  covenant  with 
mankind  as  still  co-existing  with  the  Abrahamic  or  special  covenant  with  Israel.  On 
no  other  ground  can  we  explain  the  admission  of  proselj'-tes  of  the  gate  to  any  stand- 
ing in  the  community  of  Israel,  or  the  remarkable  reference  to  the  laws  of  Noah. 
These  strangers  of  the  gate  were  so  called  because  they  were  admitted  into  the  gate  of 
the  private  or  domestic  court,  though  they  did  not  form  a  part  of  the  proper  family, 
and  in  the  temple  were  admitted  into  the  court  of  Gentiles,  but  not  into  those  that 
were  accessible  to  the  peculiar  people.  They  also  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  the  cities 
of  refuge  (Num.  35  :  15),  and  certain  other  advantages  incidental  to  their  intermin- 
gling with  the  people  of  God  (Lev.  25  :  35-55)  ;  but  they  were  excluded  from  the  pass- 
over  and  the  other  sealing  ordinances  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant.  Born  in  the  land. 
A  descendant  of  Israel,  or  of  one  incorporated  into  Israel  by  circumcision,  and  so  a 
native  and  an  heir  of  the  promised  land.  In  your  dwellings.  The  obligation  to  abstain 
from  leaven  is  to  extend  to  those  who  remain  at  home,  as  well  as  to  those  who  resort 
to  the  sanctuary  for  the  observance  of  the  passover. 

In  this  passage  we  have  the  institution  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  which  was 
the  continuation  of  the  passover  meal,  and  was  to  be  celebrated  after  the  departure 
from  Egypt.  And  we  perceive  that  the  sacred  writer  is  more  intent  on  the  record  of 
this  institution  than  on  the  detail  of  the  exodus  itself. 

21-28.  Moses  communicates  to  the  people  the  message  he  had  received  from  the 
Lord.  The  record  of  this  communication  is  given  in  brief  terms.  Called  for  the  elders 
of  Israel  (Gen.  3  :  16).  These  were  the  official  organs  of  the  people,  through  whom  it 
was  easy  for  Moses  to  communicate  with  the  whole  of  Israel.  This  message  was  de- 
livered to  them  in  the  beginning  of  the  month,  and  certainly  some  days  before  the 
tenth.  Draw  out.  Separate  from  the  flock,  not  depart  {cnTE?iQdvTeS),  as  the  Sept.  freely 
renders.  A  lamb.  The  original  is  "  one  of  the  flock"  ("[{^'xj),  which,  according  to  the 
previous  description  (vs.  5),  here  means  a  lamb  or  a  kid.  And  kill  the  passover.  This 
is  evidently  a  summary  of  the  directions  given  by  Moses.  22.  A  bunch  of  hyssop. 
Here  the  direction  supplies  what  is  wanting  in  the  previous  record.  The  hyssop  is  appar- 
ently a  generic  term  including  several  species.  The  species  here  intended  is  generally 
supposed  to  be,  not  the  hyssopus  officinalis,  but  according  to  Maimonides  and  others, 
a  plant  called  Sahtar  by  the  Arabs,  a  kind  of  organy,  an  aromatic  plant  one  foot  high, 
growing  on  stony  soil  (1  Kings  5  :  13).     A  bunch  according  to  tradition  consists  of 


EXODUS  XII.  24-36.  §1 

three  stalks;  And  none  of  you  shall  com,e  out  from  the  door,  from  the  blood-besprinkled 
door,  within  which  is  safety.  The  destroyer.  The  destructive  power,  agent,  or  instru- 
ment is  hereby  denoted.  The  intervention  of  angels  is  not  necessarily  implied.  "  The 
destroyer"  (6  o^ioBpEvuv),  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (11  :  28),  seems  to  be  the  Lord 
himself,  or  the  Angel  of  the  Lord. 

24-27.  The  peipetual  observance  of  this  ordinance,  which  was  enjoined  in  vs.  14,  is 
here  prescribed  with  great  minuteness.  This  service.  The  ordinance  is  here  desig- 
nated a  service,  inasmuch  as  it  was  an  act  of  obedience  to  the  Divine  Master  whose 
servants  they  had  become.  What  mean  ye  ?  This  ordinance  of  God  is  a  reasonable 
service,  and  therefore  the  children  have  a  right  to  ask,  and  the  parents  are  bound  to 
give,  a  reason  for  its  observance.  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  passover.  Here  the 
sacrificial  nature  of  the  passover  is  expressly  asserted. 

28.  The  prompt  obedience  of  the  people,  who  were  represented  by  their  elders  in 
the  presence  of  Moses,  and  were  informed  of  their  duty  through  these  officials,  is 
here  emphatically  recorded.  This  brief  statement  brings  up  another  thread  of  the 
narrative  to  the  point  of  time  when  the  last  plague  is  to  be  executed.  The  selection 
of  the  lamb,  the  keeping  of  it  from  the  tenth  till  the  fourteenth  day,  during  which  in- 
terval we  have  supposed  the  three  days  of  darkness  to  have  occurred,  the  slaying  of 
the  paschal  lamb  between  the  evenings,  and  the  partaking  of  it  in  the  prescribed  form, 
have  now  been  all  accomplished. 

29-36.  We  have  now  the  narrative  of  the  death  of  the  first-born  and  the  urgent  dis- 
missal of  Israel.  At  midnight.  This  refers  to  the  point  when  the  half  of  the  night  is 
past,  and  therefore  to  the  darkest  period  in  the  whole  twenty-four  hours.  The  Lord 
smote.  This  awful  stroke  came  from  the  immediate  hand  of  God.  Its  miraculous 
nature  appears  in  the  prediction  of  the  time  and  other  circumstances  of  its  infliction, 
in  the  instantaneous  mode  of  its  occurrence,  in  the  selection  of  the  Egyptians  alone 
as  its  object,  and  in  the  further  selection  of  the  first-born  alone  of  man  and  beast.  It 
appears  that  among  men  the  first-born  only  that  remained  unmarried  in  the  house  of 
their  parents  are  here  to  be  understood.  The  first-born  of  Pharoh  is  slain,  while  he 
himself  is  spared,  though  probably  a  first-born.  It  is  said  that "  there  was  not  a  house 
where  there  was  not  one  dead  "  ;  but  there  might  have  been  grandparents  and  parents 
as  well  as  a  first-born  child  deceased  in  one  house,  if  other  than  the  unmarried  first- 
born had  been  contemplated  in  the  threatened  judgment.  And  Pharoh  rose  up  in  the 
night.  The  peril  was  too  imminent  to  admit  of  delay.  The  cry  of  intense  anguish 
arose  from  every  home.  The  awful  feeling  that  all  might  in  another  moment,  at  all 
events  by  another  judgment,  be  struck  down,  awoke  in  every  breast.  And  he  called  for 
Moses  and  Aaron  by  night.  His  indignant  resolve  to  see  Moses  no  more  is  soon  forgot- 
ten. The  meeting,  moreover,  could  hardly  be  called  an  interview,  as  it  was  a  hurried 
cry  in  the  dark,  imploring  them  to  arise  and  go  forth  from  among  his  people,  with  all 
the  sons  of  Israel,  urging  them  to  take  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  go,  and  beseeching 
them  to  bless  him  also  before  they  depart.  By  blessing  him  he  meant  releasing  him 
from  the  menace  of  any  other  awful  judgment,  such  as  those  that  had  already  befallen 
him  through  their  intervention.  It  is  plain  that  he  makes  no  condition  with  them  as  to 
returning  after  a  limited  time  to  his  service.  He  is  most  anxious  to  propitiate  Moses 
and  the  God  of  Moses  by  granting  precisely  and  fully  all  that  had  been  demanded. 
And  hence  he  says,  "  And  serve  the  Lord,  as  ye  have  spoken"  ;  **  take  your  flocks  and 
your  herds,  as  ye  have  spoken."  It  is  now  a  case  of  life  and  death  with  him.  "What 
need  of  insisting  on  a  return,  if  we  are  to  be  all  dead  men  ?     And  Mizraim  urged  thi 


82  THE   DEPARTURE   OF   ISRAEL. 

people.  Their  first-born  were  all  dead.  The  stroke  had  at  length  reached  their  per- 
sons, and  had  laid  low  the  very  dearest  of  every  household.  iNo  wonder  they  expected 
to  be  all  dead  men. 

34-36.  Took  their  dough  before  it  was  leavened.  Here  we  see  the  coincidence  of  his- 
torical fact  with  the  institution  of  the  festival  of  unleavened  bread.  This  bread  was 
commemorative,  as  well  as  symbolical.  We  are  not  to  infer  that  it  was  the  design  of 
the  people  on  this  occasion  to  leaven  their  dough,  but  that  this  was  the  routine  that 
was  wont  to  be  pursued  on  ordinary  occasions.  Bound  up  in  their  garments.  The  gar- 
ment (n7Dti^)  ^^^  ^  square  piece  of  cloth  that  was  thrown  over  the  rest  of  the  dress 
as  a  shawl  or  mantle,  and  was  therefore  suitable  for  wrapping  up  movable  articles  in 
a  journey.  35,  36.  And  they  spoiled  Mizraim.  The  transaction  here  recorded  is  an  act 
of  compliance  with  a  direction  given  as  far  back  as  the  commission  Moses  received  at 
the  burning  bush  (3  :  21,  22),  and  recalled  to  mind  the  day  before  their  departure 
(11  :  2).  The  Israelites  were  now  in  the  ascendant.  They  held  the  position  of  con- 
querors, and  the  Egyptians,  who  had  long  and  grievously  wronged  them  and  profited 
by  their  unrequited  labors,  felt  themselves  to  be  at  their  mercy.  The  demands  made 
and  the  gifts  bestowed  in  such  circumstances  were  in  substance  a  spoiling  of  Egypt. 
The  Israelites  were  now  in  a  position  to  extort  a  portion  of  their  just  rights,  and  they 
used  their  advantage  with  great  moderation,* 

37-42,  The  departure  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  bondage.  F)'om  Barneses,  not  the 
town,  but  the  tract  of  country  so  called  Gen.  47  :  11.  It  is  unwarranted  by  the  text, 
and  inconceivable  in  itself,  that  the  men,  women,  and  children,  with  their  cattle  and 
movables,  should  have  assembled  at  the  town  in  order  immediately  to  depart  from  it. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  even  the  full-grown  men  started  in  a  formed  body  from 
any  one  town,  place  it  where  we  will.  "VVe  have  no  concern,  therefore,  with  the  site 
of  Kameses  the  town,  but  only  of  Kameses  the  province,  and  it  suffices  to  know  that 
it  was  the  border  land  of  Egj^t  toward  Arabia.  There  is  much  probability  in  the 
opinion  that  it  included  the  wady  Tumilat,  and  so  lay  east  of  the  Nile,  and  around  the 
Birket  Temsah,  or  crocodile  lake,  extending,  however,  considerably  to  the  north  and 
south  of  this  valley.  To  Sukkoth.  This  site  was  probably  some  point  near  the  western 
edge  of  the  salt  marshes  or  bitter  lakes,  that  lay  between  the  Birket  Temsah,  and  the 
Gulf  of  Suez,  and  had  a  lower  level  than  the  sea.  It  is  plain  that  this  station  was  over 
the  border  of  Kameses,  and  that  it  was  the  first  rendezvous  of  the  people.  Each  family, 
or  party,  on  receiving  gifts  which  its  Egyptian  neighbors  pressed  upon  its  acceptance, 
turned  its  steps,  with  its  flocks  and  herds  and  beasts  of  burden,  toward  the  border. 
The  females,  and  the  males  under  twenty,  attended  to  the  flocks  and  herds  and  mov- 
able chattels  which  they  were  able  to  take  with  them,  and  never  contemplated  a  junc- 
tion, even  at  Sukkoth.  They  slowly  and  steadily  moved  to  the  east  and  south  along 
the  north  end  of  the  bitter  lakes,  some  down  the  western  side,  without  any  fear  of  the 
Egyptians,  who  were  engaged  in  burying  their  first-born,  or  at  least  in  paying  them 
the  last  sad  rites.  The  males  over  twenty  years  of  age,  by  previous  concert,  formed 
themselves  into  marching  companies  at  their  respective  positions,  faced  toward  Suk- 
koth, and  gradually  arranged  themselves  into  tribes,  and  these,  it  may  be,  into  camps 
or  battalions,  by  the  time  they  approached  Sukkoth.  It  cannot  surj)rise  us  that  the 
site  of  Sukkoth  is  not  to  be  found.     It  was  possibly  only  a  village,  or  a  convenient 

*  See  on  cb.  3:  21,  Much  misapprehension  existed  as  to  this  transaction,  from  the  fact  that  borrow 
and  lend,  the  words  of  the  Ixx,,  crept  into  nearly  all  the  translations.  They  do  not  represent  the 
Hebrew  words.    The  people  demanded,  and  the  Egyptians  gave,— J,  H. 


EXODUS  xir.  38,  39.  83 

place  for  the  halting  of  a  large  body  of  men  ;  and  such  a  temporary  resting-place, 
without  intrenchments,  left  no  trace  behind. 

About  ^ix  hundred  thousand  foot.  This  is  an  avowed  round  number.  It  is  below, 
rather  than  above,  the  actual  number  603,550  (Num.  2  :  32  ;  3  :  39).  From  a  calcula- 
tion of  the  percentage  of  deaths  up  to  twenty  years  of  age,  it  appears  that  those  above 
that  age  are  to  those  below  it  as  12  to  5.  Hence  the  whole  number  of  males  would  be 
about  850,000.  This  would  give  a  sum  total  of  males  and  females  of  about  1,700,000. 
The  same  result  follows  from  the  number  of  Levites,  from  a  month  old  and  upward, 
being  22,000  (Num.  3  : 9),  while  those  from  30  to  50  were  8580  (Num.  4  :  48).  For  the 
number  from  20  to  30  may  be  taken  at  half  of  those  from  30  to  50,  that  is  4290  ;  and 
the  number  above  50  may  be  two  thirds  of  this,  or  2860.  Hence  those  above  20  would 
be  about  (8580  +  4290  +  2860)  15,730,  and  consequently  those  below  would  be  about 
(22,000  —  15,730)  6270.  These  numbers  are  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  5  to  2.  This  gives 
840,000  for  the  males,  and  1,680,000  for  the  whole.  This  sum  has  to  receive  a  slight 
augmentation  for  the  exact  number  and  for  the  Levites,  by  which  it  reaches  1,734,540. 
The  period  of  sojourn  in  Egypt  v/as,  according  to  our  calculation,  210  years.  As  the 
average  of  seven  generations  from  Arpakshad  to  Nahor  was  31  years,  when  men  lived 
from  438  to  148  years,  we  may  safely  assume  30  years  as  a  generation,  and,  therefore, 
seven  generations  in  210  years  (see  on  Gen.  1  :  22-26).  As  Abraham  had  six  sons  by 
Keturah,  and  Jacob  six  by  Leah,  we  may  also  suppose  each  parent  to  have  four  sons 
on  an  average,  when  the  divine  blessing  of  fruitfulness  was  promised  (Gen.  35  :  11), 
and  actually  bestowed  in  Egypt  (1  :  7).  With  68  males  for  the  first  term,  8  for  the  num- 
ber of  terms,  and  4  for  the  common  ratio,  the  last  term,  or  the  number  of  males  at  the 
exodus,  would  be  1,114,112.  This  is  considerably  above  the  actual  number,  and 
therefore  allows  for  a  smaller  number  of  generations  in  particular  lines,  as  that  of 
Moses.  With  a  siDecial  promise  of  fruitfulness,  and  an  exceedingly  fertile  soil,  this 
cannot  be  regarded  as  either  an  impossible  or  improbable  increase. 

Apart  from  the  little  ones.  The  little  ones  here  denote  the  young  of  both  sexes.  The 
women,  being  not  otherwise  mentioned,  are  implied  in  this  term. 

38,  39.  A  mixed  multitude  is  literally  rendered  by  the  Sept.  eirituKTog  tto'Av^,  a  numer- 
ous mixture.  It  seems  to  denote  a  congeries  or  gathering  without  order,  in  contact 
with  the  marshalled  host  of  600,000  men.  It  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  a 
rabble  of  non-Israelites,  consisting  of  slaves  and  disaffected  Egyptians,  who  were  glad 
to  flee  the  countiy,  and  is  usually  identified  with  the  gathering  (T]CDCN)  ^^  murmur- 
ers  or  mutineers,  who  are  distinguished  from  the  children  of  Israel  in  Num.  11  : 4. 
We  do  not  pretend  to  deny  that  such  were  included.  If  the  shepherd  kings  were  at 
this  time  ruling  the  north  of  Egypt,  we  may  readily  grant  that  many  of  the  natives 
would  be  dissatisfied  with  their  civil  condition.  But  it  is  possible  that  the  multitude 
here  described  comprised  the  whole  of  those  who  did  not  form  a  part  of  the  marshalled 
host,  and  therefore  included  the  women  and  youth  of  the  nation,  who  with  the  slaves, 
if  there  were  any  such,  were  employed  in  looking  after  the  cattle  in  the  various  ranges 
of  country  where  they  were  feeding.  Hence  it  is  added,  that  flocks  and  herds,  even  very 
much  cattle,  went  up  with  them.  At  all  events,  it  is  plain  on  the  face  of  the  narrative 
that  the  young  people  and  the  women  were  apart  from  the  regular  host,  and  in  charge 
of  the  cattle.  And  it  is  probable  that  a  portion  of  the  full-grown  men,  those  most  ad- 
vanced in  years,  were  also  associated  with  them  in  their  wandering  course.  They 
baked  the  dough  (see  on  vs.  34).  This  was  generally  the  work  of  women  ;  but  we  know 
that  the  Bedawi  in  the  desert,  when  on  an  expedition  apart  from  his  household,  can 


84  THE    DEPARTURE    OF    ISRAEL. 

cook  his  own  food.  "We  find  Abraham  directing  a  young  man  to  dress  a  calf  (Gen. 
18  :  7),  and  Jacob  seething  pottage  for  his  own  use  (Gen.  25  :  29).  Unleavened  cakes, 
round  cakes  baked  on  a  kind  of  pan,  or  even  among  the  cinders,  in  their  present 
haste.  Any  provision.  The  word  ,"|"^\j  denotes  that  which  is  procured  by  the  chase, 
wild  animals  of  any  kind,  and  here  provisions  in  general,  especially  for  a  journey. 

40-42.  Who  sojourned  in  Mizraim.  The  Sept.  in  the  cod.  Vatic,  has  here  t)v  ■Kapuarjaav 
fv  yrj  Al-yvTTTCf)  KoX  kv  yrj  Xavadv,  "  which  they  sojourned  in  Egypt  and  in  Kenaan."  In 
the  cod.  Alex,  it  runs  thus  :  "  which  they  and  their  fathers  sojourned  in  Egypt  and  in 
Kenaan."  The  Sam.  has  the  verse  thus  :  "  and  the  sojourning  of  the  sons  of 
Israel  and  of  their  fathers,  who  (or  which  they)  sojourned  in  the  land  of  Kenaan 
and  in  the  land  of  Mizraim,"  etc.  These  variants  serve  to  prove  that  the  Hebrew 
text  has  the  correct  reading.  For  h  yg  Xavaav  proves  itself  to  be  an  addition  by 
coming  after  ev  yij  AlyvnTCf)  when  it  ought  in  point  of  time  to  be  before  it.  They  also 
serve  to  show  the  meaning  attached  to  the  passage  by  the  Sam.  copy  and  the  Sept.  ver- 
sion. They  both  reckon  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  from  the  call  of  Abraham. 
But  from  a  narrow  view  of  the  pliancy  of  language,  they  concluded  that  *'  the  sons  of 
Israel  "  could  not  be  freely  used  to  denote  the  race  from  Abraham  down,  and  that  the 
phrase,  "who  sojourned  in  Mizraim,"  did  not  admit  of  their  having  sojourned  a  pre- 
vious part  of  the  time  in  Kenaan.  Hence  their  emendations,  or  rather  explications. 
But  the  author  evidently  used  the  present  name  of  the  race  to  represent  that  race,  even 
when  the  name  was  not  in  existence.  And  he  employs  the  expression,  "  who  (or 
which  they)  sojourned  in  Mizraim,"  now  that  he  was  sojourning  still,  but  in  another 
place,  naturally  enough  to  describe  that  sojourning  previous  to  the  exodus,  of  which 
the  residence  in  Mizraim  had  been  the  latest  and  by  far  the  most  significant  part. 
Besides,  Abraham  had  been  in  Egypt  at  the  very  beginning  of  their  sojourning  (Gen. 
12  :  10),  and  Joseph  had  been  twenty-two  years  in  that  country  before  the  arrival  of 
Jacob's  family.  Other  reasons  concur  to  prove  that  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  author. 
Abraham  is  informed  that  "  his  seed  (1)  shall  be  strangers  in  a  land  that  is  not  theirs, 
and  (2)  shall  serve  them,  and  (3)  they  shall  afiiict  them  four  hundred  years"  (Gen. 
15  :  13).  Now  Isaac  was  born  when  Abraham  was  a  hundred  years  old,  and  therefore 
thirty  years  after  he  was  called.  The  exodus  therefore  was  four  hundred  years  after  the 
birth  of  Isaac.  But  Isaac  was  sixty  years  old  when  Jacob  was  born,  and  Jacob 
was  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  old  when  he  came  into  Egypt  (Gen.  25  :  26  ; 
47  : 9).  Hence  the  sojourn  in  Egypt  lasted  210  [400  —  (60  +  130)]  years.  Again, 
from  Ex.  6  :  16-20,  we  learn  that  Moses  was  the  grandson  of  Levi  by  the  mother's 
side,  and  the  great-grandson  by  the  father's  side.  As  Moses  was  eighty  at  the  exodus, 
if  Jokebed  was  born  when  Levi  was  one  hundred  years  old,  and  therefore  sixty-six 
years  after  the  immigration,  she  must  have  been  sixty-four  at  the  birth  of  Moses 
(66  -f  64  +  80  =  210).  It  is  manifest  that  we  cannot  add  two  hundred  and  twenty 
years  to  this  period  without  presuming  with  some  expositors  that  several  generations 
are  omitted.  The  writer,  however,  plainly  gives  us  all  the  links  of  the  genealogical 
chain,  and  not  the  slightest  hint  of  any  omission.  He  is  precise  not  only  in  names, 
but  in  relationships  and  other  circumstances.  We  have  no  more  right  to  insert  new 
and  unknown  links  here  than  in  the  genealogies  before  and  after  Noah.  And  lastly, 
the  Apostle  Paul  (Gal.  3  :  17)  afiirms  that  the  law  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years 
after  the  covenant  with  Abraham.  Any  one  of  these  arguments  is  sufficient  to  confirm 
what  we  hold  to  be  the  fair  interpretation  of  the  text.  On  the  self-same  day,  immedi- 
ately after  the  close  of  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  years.     A  night  of  observance,  to  be 


EXODUS  XII.  43-51.  85 

kept  as  a  commemorative  solemnity  in  honor  of  the  Lord  their  Deliverer.  For  bring- 
ing them  out.  The  occasion  of  its  appointment  is  here  stated.  Such  is  this  night.  The 
perpetuity  of  this  observance  is  expressed  with  solemn  emphasis. 

43-50.  This  paragraph  determines  who  are  to  partake  of  the  passover.  This  it  was 
necessary  to  define  so  soon  as  the  nation  became  independent,  and  therefore  at  liberty 
to  admit  and  exclude.  No  alien,  son  of  a  foreign  land,  a  general  term  for  all  non- 
Israelites.  Every  man's  servant  that  is  bought  with  his  money.  Such  a  man  belongs  to 
his  master,  and  therefore  to  his  master's  nation.  It  is  to  be  observed  here  that  the 
legislator  finds  a  kind  of  bondage  in  existence,  and  legislates  for  it.  He  determines 
that  the  slave  is  entitled  to  all  the  religious  privileges  of  his  master.  A  rsojourner,  an 
inhabitant  who  is  not  incorporated  into  Israel  by  circumcision.  A  hireling,  a  mere  day 
laborer,  who  is  in  the  same  relation.  46,  47.  In  one  house.  Where  two  families  are  joined 
in  order  to  form  a  large  enough  company  for  the  lamb,  they  are  to  assemble  in  one 
house.  It  is  not  to  be  separated  or  part  of  it  carried  to  another  house,  and  a  bone  of 
it  shall  not  be  broken.  This  is  to  denote  the  spiritual  unity  of  those  who  partake  of 
the  one  unbroken  lamb.  All  the  assembly.  They  are  to  be  all  one  body.  As  circum- 
cision represents  their  new  birth,  the  eating  oi  the  paschal  lamb  is  to  shadow  forth 
the  perpetuation  of  their  siDiritual  life  by  faith  in  God.  48,  49.  A  stranger,  a  foreigner 
who  resides  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  with  the  Israelites.  Having  been  circumcised, 
his  family  is  incorporated  into  Israel,  and  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the 
chosen  people.  Thus  the  door  is  opened  wide  to  all  Gentiles  who  wish  to  partake 
in  the  blessings  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  as  circumcision  would  in  those  days  be 
considered  no  hardshij).  50.  This  verse  closes  the  account  of  the  celebration  of  the 
passover  in  conformity  with  all  the  requirements  of  the  divine  command. 

51.  This  verse  is  properly  separated  from  the  preceding  paragraph,  as  it  is  the  clos- 
ing summary  of  the  narrative  of  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  bondage, 
which  here  runs  parallel  with  the  record  of  the  institution  of  the  passover. 

This  chapter  completes  the  account  of  the  ten  plagues,  by  which  the  king  of  Egj'pt 
is  at  length  constrained  to  let  Israel  go  out  of  the  land  of  bondage.  He  who  might 
have  overwhelmed  all  the  might  of  Egypt  by  one  awful  stroke  displays  his  long-suffer- 
ing forbearance  by  sending  two  verbal  messages  to  Pharoh,  and  only  after  a  second 
contemptuous  refusal,  proceeding  to  inflict  a  moderate  chastisement,  to  bring  him  to 
repentance.  The  haughty  obstinacy  of  the  king  requires  a  tenfold  infliction,  gradually 
increasing  in  severity,  before  it  can  be  effectually  overcome.  And  it  is  only  finally  and 
for  ever  subdued  by  his  perishing  in  the  Eed  Sea. 


SECTION    III.— THE    EXODUS. 

IX.     THE     ESCAPE     OF     ISRAEL.— Ex.   13   :  15. 

CHAP.    XIII. — SANCTIFICATION   OP   THE   FIEST-BOKN. 

1^-  rDO^D""  ^^  ^^y^'  The  attachment  of  n  paragogic  to  this  plural  transforms  it 
into  an  adverb,  referring  to  a  stated  or  natural  circle  of  days.  From  the  other 
passages  in  which  it  is  used  (Judg.  11  :  40  ;  21  :  19  ;  1  Sam.  1  :  3  ;  2  :  19)  we  are 
led  to  conclude  that  it  denotes  a  year. 

12.  -][29  thcit  which  opens  the  womb.  The  first-born  ;  r.  cleave,  ojjen.  -\y\^  the 
casting^  or  young  of  an  animal. 

16.  ni'DC^illD  occurs  only  in  this  passage  and  Deut.  6:8;  11  :  18,  where  it 
denotes  frontlets  bound  with  a  fillet  round  the  head.  The  root  is  supposed  to 
mean  ^0  go  round. 

18.  Clti^/On  "This  means  marshalled,  in  marching  array,  or,  according  to  some, 
having  the  loins  girt.  The  root  in  the  former  case  is  the  numeral  'i^'Qnfi'^^^  which  is 
the  basis  of  arrangement  ;  in  the  letter  the  noun  "^'^n  rendered  the  loin.  The  word, 
is  here  rendered  irejurrrT)  yeved  in  the  Sept.,  girded  in  the  Trag.,  and  armati  in  the 
Vulgate.  It  occurs  only  in  four  passages,  here  and  in  Josh.  1  :  14  ;  4  :  12  ;  Judg. 
7  :  11.  In  Josh.  1  :  14  it  denotes  separate  from  the  women  and  children,  and  in 
marching  order  (Sept.  ev^ovoC).  In  Josh.  4  :  12,  13  it  again  signifies  in  marching 
order,  and  is  distinguished  from  ^^n^^n  i^j^^'n  equipped  for  the  war  (Sept.  Sie- 
onevaafiivoi^  and  ev^uvot  ets  /naxv^)-  In  Judg.  7  :  11  it  refers  to  soldiers  in  camp, 
and  therefore  points  rather  to  arrangement  than  armor  (Sept,  nevTr/Koi'Ta).  It  is 
evident  that  the  Seventy  only  conjectured  what  might  be  the  meaning  of  the 
word.  From  all  the  contexts  in  which  it  occurs  the  meaning  appears  to  be  in 
marching  array,  and  therefore  apart  from  the  women  and  children,  the  question 
of  arms  being  left  open. 

20.  cr\^  Sept.  'OQw/z,  Etham  {atiom  the  border  of  the  sea,  Jablonski).  The 
derivation  is  uncertain. 

Xin.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying  ;  2.  Sanctify  unto  me  every  first- 
born, that  openeth  every  womb,  among  the  sons  of  Israel,  of  man  and  of  beast  :  it  is 
mine. 

3.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  Kem ember  this  day,  in  which  ye  came  out  of 
Mizraim,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage  ;  for  by  strength  of  hand  the  Lord  brought  you 
out  thence  :  and  nothing  leavened  shall  be  eaten.  4.  This  day  come  ye  out  in  the 
month  Abib.  5.  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  shall  bring  thee  into  the  land  of  the 
Kenaanite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Amorite,  and  the  Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite,  which 
he  sware  unto  thy  fathers  to  give  thee,  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  that  thou 
shalt  keep  this  service  in  this  month,  6.  Seven  days  shalt  thou  eat  unleavened  bread  ; 
and  in  the  seventh  day  shall  be  a  feast  to  the  Lord.  7.  Unleavened  bread  shall  be 
eaten  the  seven  days  ;  and  nothing  leavened  shall  be  seen  with  thee,  neither  shall 
leaven  be  seen  with  thee  in  all  thy  border.     8.  And  thou  shalt  show  thy  sons  in  that 


EXODUS  XIII.    1-10.  87 

day,  saying,  It  is  on  account  of  that  which  the  Lord  did  unto  me  when  I  came  out  of 
Mizraim.  9.  And  it  shall  be  for  a  sign  unto  thee  upon  thy  hand,  and  for  a  memorial 
between  thine  eyes,  that  the  law  of  the  Loed  may  be  in  thy  mouth  :  for  with  a  strong 
hand  hath  the  Lokd  brought  thee  out  of  Mizraim.  10.  And  thou  shalt  keep  this  ordi- 
nance in  its  season  from  year  to  year.  ^  20. 

11.  And  it  shall  be  when  the  Lord  bringeth  thee  into  the  land  of  the  Kenaanite,  as 
he  sware  unto  thee  and  to  thy  fathers,  and  hath  given  it  thee,  12.  That  thou  shalt  set 
apart  all  that  openeth  the  womb  unto  the  Loed  ;  and  every  firstling  that  cometh  of  a 
beast  which  thou  hast,  the  males  shall  be  the  Loed's.  13.  And  every  firstling  of  an 
ass  thou  shalt  redeem  with  a  lamb  ;  and  if  thou  wilt  not  redeem  it,  then  thou  shalt 
break  its  neck  :  and  every  first-born  of  man  among  thy  sons  thou  shalt  redeem.  14, 
And  it  shalt  be,  when  thy  son  asketh  thee  in  time  to  come,  saying,  What  is  this  ?  that 
thou  shalt  say  unto  him,  By  strength  of  hand  the  Loed  brought  us  out  of  Mizraim,  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage.  15.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharoh  would  hardly  let  us 
go,  that  the  Loed  slew  all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Mizraim,  from  the  first-born  of 
man  to  the  first-born  of  beast  :  therefore  I  sacrifice  to  the  Loed  all  that  openeth  the 
womb,  being  males,  and  all  the  first-born  of  my  sons  I  redeem.  16.  And  it  shall  be  for 
a  sign  upon  thy  hand,  and  for  frontlets  between  thine  eyes  :  for  by  strength  of  hand  the 
Loed  brought  us  out  of  Mizraim.  16.  §  ^  §  15. 

17.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharoh  let  the  people  go,  that  God  led  them  not  by 
the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  though  that  was  near  ;  for  God  said,  Lest  the 
people  repent  when  they  see  war,  and  return  to  Mizraim.  18.  And  God  led  the  people 
round  by  the  way  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Eed  Sea  :  and  the  sons  of  Israel  went  up 
marshalled  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim.  19.  And  Moses  took  the  bones  of  Joseph  with 
him  :  for  he  had  straitly  sworn  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  God  will  surely  visit  you, 
and  ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones  hence  with  you.  20.  And  they  set  out  from  Sukkoth, 
and  encamped  in  Etham,  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness.  21.  And  the  Lord  went  be- 
fore them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  cloud  to  lead  them  the  way,  and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of 
fire  to  give  them  light  ;  to  go  by  day  and  night.  22.  The  pillar  of  cloud  did  not  cease 
by  day,  nor  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  before  the  people.  ^  21. 

The  record  of  the  first  step  in  the  departure  out  of  Egypt  is  necessarily  involved  in 
the  narrative  of  the  tenth  plague.  But  though  the  people  have  been  dismissed,  they 
are  not  clear  out  of  the  country.  The  grand  scene  of  the  exodus  yet  remains.  This 
is  the  passage  through  the  Ked  Sea.  And  as  soon  as  the  people  are  come  to  the  place" 
where  the  Lord  first  appeared  to  Moses,  the  exodus  may  be  said  to  be  complete. 
These  events  occupy  the  third  six  chapters  of  this  book.  They  contain  two  sub- 
divisions ;  first,  the  crossing  of  the  Ked  Sea,  in  three  chapters,  and  next  the  Journey 
to  Horeb,  occupying  the  remaining  three. 

The  present  chapter  contains  the  directions  concerning  the  sanctification  of  the  first- 
born, and  some  details  concerning  the  manner  of  their  journey. 

1-16.  This  paragraph  relates  to  the  sanctification  of  the  first-born.  And  ihe  Lord 
spake  unto  Moses.  As  the  words  "  in  Mizraim"  are  no  longer  added,  we  may  presume 
that  this  is  the  first  communication  given  after  they  reached  the  border.  Sanctify  unto 
me,  set  apart  as  mine,  and  therefore  holy.  Every  first-horn  that  is  a  male  (vs.  12).  Of 
man  and  beast.  As  the  first-born  of  man  and  beast  perished  among  the  Egyptians,  so 
are  they  equally  to  be  given  over  to  the  Lord  among  the  Israelites.  That  openeth  every 
icomb,  the  first-born  of  every  mother.  It  is  mine.  All  things  belong  to  God  by  right 
of  creation.  All  Israel  belonged  to  him  by  right  of  redemption.  The  first-born  belong 
to  him  by  right  of  passing  over  them  when  Egypt's  first-born  were  destroyed.  Hence 
the  consecration  of  the  first-born  is  clearly  connected  with  the  passover,  and  accord- 
ingly is  prescribed  immediately  after  the  first  step  of  the  exodus. 

3-10.  Hence  Moses  now  proceeds  to  enjoin  upon  the  people  the  observance  of  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread,  which  commences  with  the  passover.     Rem,emher  this  day. 


88  SAKCTIFICATIOK    OF   THE    FIRST-BORK. 

Festivals  are  commemorative  of  some  great  event  in  the  ways  of  God  with  man.     This 
day  is  the  first  day  of  unleavened  bread,  the  first  day  of  Israel's  emancipation.     Out 
of  the  house  of  bondage,  literally  of  bondsmen.     From  a  position  of  freedom  and  honor 
they  had  been  nnjustly  and  ungratefully  reduced  to  the  condition  of  serfs.    By  strength 
of  hand,  a  variation  of  the  phrase  "by  a  strong  hand."     Nothing  leavened.     The  dis- 
tinguishing mark  of  this  festival  is  that  no  leaven  shall  be  used  in  food.     4.  Abib  is 
the  month  of  green  ears,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  which  was  the  first  full  moon  after  the 
vernal  equinox.     5-7.  Shall  bring  thee  into  the  land.     This  festival  is  to  be  a  perpetual 
ordinance  in  the  land  of  promise.     The  five  tribes  here  enumerated  are  all  descended 
from  Kenaan.     The  Perizzite  of  Gen.  15  :  20  and  Ex.  3  :  8,  is  here  omitted,  perhaps  be- 
cause only  Kenaanites  are  here  to  be  mentioned.     In  the  seventh  day  shall  be  a  feast  to 
the  Lord,  as  well  as  in  the  first,  which  is  to  be  understood  from  fuller  communications. 
8-10.  And  thou  shall  shoio  thy  so7i.     The  duty  of  parental  instruction  in  religious 
truth  is  here  enjoined.     The  history  of  the  ways  of  God  with  man  is  a  precious  trust, 
to  be  conveyed  faithfully  from  father  to  son.   A  full  knowledge  of  our  relation  to  God 
is  only  to  be  obtained  by  an  acquaintance  with  the  main  facts  of  his  past  dealing  with 
us.     Hence  a  commemorative  ordinance  is  valuable  ;  but  it  only  rises  to  its  full  im- 
portance when  its  origin  and  significance  are  clearly  explained  and  well  understood. 
The  redemption  out  of  Egypt  is  the  present  fulfilment  of  a  great  promise,  and  at  the 
same  time  an  earnest  of  a  still  greater  fulfilment  in  the  future.     The  present  is  always 
big  with  the  future  ;  and  this  is  nowhere  so  signally  realized  as  in  the  promises  of 
God  and  the  development  of  man.     9.  A  sign  unto  thee  upon  thy  hand.     The  celebration 
of  the  passover,  being  thus  expounded  and  observed  from  generation  to  generation, 
will   be  for  a   sign  upon  the  hand,  and   a  frontlet  between  the  eyes.     There   is  a 
beautiful   consecration    of    personal    ornament    in    this    injunction.     These    orna- 
ments, being   embellishments   of  the  person,    came  often  before  the   eye  and  the 
mind    as    pleasing    objects    of    contemplation.     Being  gifts,    and    therefore    keep- 
sakes or  memorials  of  pure  affection,  they  became  bonds  of  love  and  gratitude,  attach- 
ing the  heart  to  the  giver.     The  armlet  or  bracelet,  moreover,   clasped  the  hand,  the 
seat  of  power,  and  hinted  at  the  lesson  that  the  actions  are  to  be  bound  by  the  law  of 
love.     The  fillet  or  frontlet  encircles  the  head,  the  seat  of  intelligence,  and  similarly 
Intimates  that  the  thoughts  are  to  be  regulated  by  the  law  of  truth.     The  jewel  on  the 
forehead,  between  the  eyes,  from  which  this  ornament  is  called  the  frontlet,  being 
placed  on  the  most  conspicuous  part  of  the  person,  is  an  emblem  of  frank  confession, 
or  brave  glorying  in  a  person  or  a  principle.     That  the  sign  on  the  hand  or  between 
the  eyes  was  not  a  brand,  such  as  was  put  upon  slaves  and  soldiers,  nor  a  kind  of 
tattooing,  such  as  we  still  find  among  savage  nations,  is  manifest  from  Deut.  6:8; 
11  :  18,  where  they  are  said  to  be  put  on  by  binding,  and  from  the  phylacteries  of  the 
Jews,  which  were  bound  on  the  forehead  and  on  the  wrist  of  the  left  hand.     These 
phylacteries  or  Tephillin  (prayer-bands)  were  strips  of  parchment,   on  which  were 
written,  Ex.  13  : 1-10,  11-16  ;  Deut.  6:4-9;  11  :  13-21.     These  were  inclosed  in  little 
boxes  or  cases  of  leather  attached  to  leather  straps,  by  which  they  were  fastened  to  the 
places  where  they  were  worn.     This  custom  was  not  prescribed  by  the  present  passage, 
and  can  only  be  regarded  as  an  indication  of  a  feeble  and  declining  piety.     Here  it  is 
intimated  that  the  observance  of  the  passover,  with  its  accompanying  ordinances,  is 
to  serve  for  a  sign  upon  our  hands  and  a  memorial  between  our  eyes,  and  therefore  to 
remind  us  of  the  beauty  of  holiness  ;  to  awaken  our  attachment  to  the  heavenly  Friend 
who  gave  us  this  ordinance  as  the  symbol  of  our  redemption  to  freedom  ;  to  bend  our 


EXODUS  XIII.  11-22.  89 

actions  and  our  thouglits  by  true  love,  tlie  law  of  reason  and  of  heaven  ;  and  to  sig- 
nalize our  thankful  and  open  glorifying  in  the  Lord,  and  in  his  covenant.  The  sacra- 
ments of  the  divine  appointment,  and  not  the  phylacteries  of  our  own  invention,  are 
to  be  the  signs  upon  our  hands  and  the  frontlets  between  our  eyes,  telling  of  our  faith 
in  God  ;  om-  reconciliation  to  him  ;  our  entrance  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons 
of  God.  They  are  to  be  the  ornaments  of  our  spiritual  beauty,  and  the  speaking  in- 
struments of  God's  everlasting  love  to  us,  and  of  our  new-born  attachment  to  him. 
That  the  law  of  the  Lord  may  he  in  thy  month,  as  a  subject  of  conversation,  and  therefore 
of  habitual  thought  and  observance.  10.  In  its  season,  its  appointed  time.  From 
year  to  year,  literally  from  days  to  days.  But  the  word  days  here  is  used  in  a  collective 
sense,  to  denote  a  definite  and  well-known  circle  of  days,  that  is,  a  year. 

11-16.  Moses  now  communicates  to  the  people  the  law  concerning  the  consecration 
of  the  first-born.  Into  the  land  of  the  Kenaanite.  This  regulation  is  to  come  into  force 
when  Israel  shall  reach  the  land  in  which  he  is  to  dwell.  It  is  here  called  the  land  of 
the  Kenaanite,  as  all  the  tribes  before  mentioned  were  descended  from  Kenaan.  The 
eventual  residence  of  Israel  for  forty  years  in  the  wilderness  was  in  consequence  of 
the  unbelief  and  disobedience  of  the  outcoming  generation,  and  is,  therefore,  not 
here  contemplated  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  presumed  that  they  are  to  pass  im- 
mediately through  the  wilderness  into  the  promised  land.  An  interval  of  a  year, 
however,  was  to  be  expected  in  the  peninsula  of  Sinai,  and  for  this  period  a  special 
provision  will  be  found  (Num.  3).  As  he  sware,  unto  thee.  He  sware  unto  them  when 
he  acknowledged  the  oath  which  he  sware  unto  their  fathers,  in  which  they  were 
named  (Ex.  6:8;  Gen.  22  :  16  ;  24  :  7).  12.  ISet  apart,  cause  to  pass  over  unto  the  Lord 
as  his  own.  13.  And  every  firstling  of  an  ass.  The  ass  is  here  specified  as  an  example 
of  what  was  to  be  done  in  the  case  of  unclean  animals.  It  seems  probable  that  the  ass 
was  at  this  time  the  only,  or  at  all  events  the  chief,  beast  of  burden  possessed  by  the 
Israelites.  It  is  a  much  finer  animal  in  the  East  than  in  these  countries.  Thou  shalt 
redeem  with  a  lamh.  To  redeem  is  to  give  a  quittance  for  the  ass,  which  is  fixed  by  law 
to  be  a  lamb,  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice  in  its  stead.  And  if  thou  wilt  not  redeem  it.  It 
is  the  Lord's,  from  the  time  that  he  smote  the  first-born  of  every  domestic  animal 
among  the  Egyptians,  and  not  among  the  Israelites.  As  it  cannot  be  offered  in  sacri- 
fice, it  is  to  be  put  to  death.  To  put  a  brute  animal  to  death  without  inflicting  un- 
necessary pain,  when  occasion  requires,  cannot  be  called  cruelty.  The  command  of  the 
Creator  is  at  least  one  occasion  on  which  this  may  be  done,  as  he  who  gave  life  can 
withdraw  it.  The  alternative  of  redeeming  or  destroying  the  firstling  of  an  unclean 
animal  is  a  temporary  arrangement,  until  a  sacerdotal  order  has  been  set  up.  From 
that  time  forward  the  alternative  comes  to  be  to  redeem  according  to  the  estimate  of 
the  priests,  and  add  a  fifth  part,  or  surrender  it  to  the  priests,  by  whom  it  is  sold  at 
his  estimation  (Lev.  27  :  27).  The  redemption  of  the  first-born  of  man  admits  of  no 
alternative.  The  ransom  was  five  shekels  (Num.  3  :  47).  14-16.  The  custom  of  redeem- 
ing the  first-born,  which  naturally  flows  from  the  passover,  serves,  in  like  manner,  for 
a  sign  on  the  hand  and  a  frontlet  between  the  eyes,  as  explained  on  vs.  9. 

17-22.  A  single  stage,  and  some  general  features  of  the  future  march  of  Israel  are 
here  stated,  God  led  them.  One  leading  feature  of  their  course  henceforth  is  that  they 
are  under  the  guidance  of  the  Most  High.  Antecedent  to  this  guidance,  and  irrespec- 
tive of  all  covenant  with  the  guided,  he  is  the  everlasting  Potentate  from  whom  all 
creation  and  all  providence  flow,  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible.  In  this  char- 
acter he  arranges  the  first  direction  given  to  their  course,  as  far  as  it  depends  on  the 


90  FROM  SUCCOTH  TO  ETHAM. 

natural  relations  of  things.  Two  ways  were  before  the  people,  the  one  leading  north- 
east, directly  toward  the  land  of  promise  ;  the  other  nearly  south,  toward  the  Sinaitic 
peninsula.  Before  they  started,  it  was  necessary  to  determine  which  they  were  to 
take,  that  no  time  might  be  lost,  and  no  misunderstanding  might  arise.  By  the 
icay  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines.  This  way  was  familiar  to  the  sons  of  Israel  in  former 
times,  when  Ephraim  asserted  a  claim  and  maintained  a  position  in  the  regions  from 
Shekem  to  Gath  (1  Chron.  7  :  21-24),  and  was  well  known  at  all  times  by  the  caravans 
of  traders  from  Damascus  and  Gilead  (Gen.  37  :  25).  Lest  the  people  repent  when  they 
see  loar.  This  is  the  determining  motive  springing  from  the  things  of  the  natural 
world.  It  is  sufficient  to  shape  their  course  for  the  present,  and,  on  the  score  of  econ- 
omy, no  further  influence  is  brought  into  operation.  But  other  and  higher  motives, 
arising  in  the  sphere  of  the  supernatural,  lie  hid  in  the  counsels  of  Jehovah,  that  is, 
of  God  as  he  is,  the  God  of  the  actual  and  the  spiritual.  The  natural  reason,  then, 
not  the  supernatural,  is  here  given  for  directing  their  course  southward.  Bound  hy  the 
vxiy  of  the  toilderness  of  the  Red  Sea.  This  way  was  round  in  reference  to  Kenaan,  the 
place  of  their  destination.  The  wilderness  of  the  Ked  Sea  is  so  called,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  that  which  they  would  have  crossed  in  the  straight  road  to  the  land  of 
Kenaan,  The  former  is  here  called  the  wilderness  of  Etham.  Both  were  included 
under  the  wider  term  Shur  (Gen.  16  :  7  ;  25  :  18  ;  Ex.  15  :  22).  Marshalled.  From  the 
usage  of  this  word,  we  infer  that  the  full-grown  men  formed  a  body,  arranged  in 
columns  or  battalions,  for  orderly  march,  apart  from  the  women  and  children.  The 
latter  were  not  on  this  occasion  assembled  together  ;  biit  assisted,  it  may  be,  by  small 
detachments  of  men,  moved  along  in  separate  companies  with  the  flocks  and  chattels 
of  the  nation.  Meanwhile,  the  full-grown  men  gradually  mustered,  and  now  marched 
in  order,  arranged  on  the  basis  of  five,  and  having  probably  captains  of  tens,  of  hun- 
dreds, of  thousands,  and  of  greater  numbers.  We  know  that  ultimately  they  formed 
five  camps,  or  battalions,  four  under  the  standards  of  Judah,  Eeuben,  Ephraim,  and 
Dan,  and  the  fifth  consisting  of  the  Levites  (Num.  1,  2).  This  body  of  men  was  thus 
enabled  to  move  with  precision,  and  afford  an  efficient  protection  to  the  scattered 
families  that  were  advancing  slowly,  encumbered  as  they  were  with  the  cattle  and  the 
movable  property  that  were  under  their  charge. 

19.  The  bones  of  Joseph.  What  a  light  this  casts  upon  the  living  thoughts  and  cher- 
ished recollections  of  this  people.  About  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago  Joseph  had 
bound  their  fathers  by  an  oath  to  carry  his  bones  with  them  to  the  land  of  promise 
(Gen.  50  :  24,  25).  This  oath,  and  the  hopes  inseparably  connected  with  it,  were 
often  talked  over  in  the  family  gatherings  of  the  evening,  and  the  memory  of  it  faith- 
fully handed  down  from  father  to  son.  This  little  incident  warrants  us  to  imagine 
the  frequent  and  earnest  conferences  which  took  place  in  the  homes  and  social  meet- 
ings of  Israel  concerning  the  promises  made  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  the  land 
to  which  they  were  to  return  when  the  iniquity  of  the  Amorite  was  full  ;  the  privileges 
and  blessings  that  were  in  store  for  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  in  that  seed  for  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  ;  the  ancient  and  universal  covenant  with  Noah,  which  was  yet 
to  be  fulfilled  by  the  seed  of  Abraham,  for  the  salvation  of  all  nations.  If  the  dying- 
request  of  Joseph  was  remembered,  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  sublime  prospects  held 
out  to  their  own  race  by  the  word  and  oath  of  the  Lord  were  altogether  forgotten. 
We  must  presume  they  were  the  topics  of  frequent  meditation  and  fervent  prayer. 

20-22.  They  set  out  from  Sukkoth.  They  arrived  at  this  place  on  the  first  day  of  un- 
leavened bread,  which  was  to  be  kept  as  a  Sabbath.     They  probably  gave  it  the  name 


EXODUS  XIII.   20-22.  91 

Siikkoth,  booths,  tabernacles,  pavilions  (Gen.  33  :  17),  because  they  set  up  a  few  booths 
and  spent  some  portion  of  the  day  in  holy  rest,  a  thankful  rest  after  liberty  achieved. 
This  is  the  solemn  beginning  of  that  dwelling  in  booths  which  was  afterward  cel- 
ebrated in  the  feast  of  tabernacles  in  the  seventh  month  (Lev.  23  :  39-43).  And  en- 
camped in  JEtham.  On  the  second  day  they  reached  this  place,  which  lay  probably  in 
the  space  between  the  Bitter  Lakes  and  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez.  Niebuhr 
identifies  it  with  Ajrud.  But  it  was  most  probably  a  little  farther  east.  21*  22.  And 
the  Lord  went  before  them.  Here  we  enter  into  the  region  of  the  supernatural.  God 
now  appears  as  Jehovah,  the  Author  and  Upholder  of  being,  of  covenant  and  promise. 
By  day  in  a  pillar  of  cloud.  A  visible  pillar  of  cloud  or  vapor,  a  conspicuous  object 
that  could  be  seen  not  only  by  the  marshalled  host  but  by  the  scattered  companies  of 
women  and  children,  as  they  fed  their  flocks  and  followed  afar  off  the  marvellous 
signal  of  the  divine  presence.  A  great  host  marching  through  a  country  without 
roads  or  other  marks  of  civilization  must  be  provided  with  some  conspicuous  object  to 
serve  as  a  signal  to  the  main  body  and  to  all  straggling  parties  connected  with  it. 
Hence  the  round  grate  full  of  kindled  fuel,  elevated  on  a  pole,  which  was  carried  be- 
fore caravans  and  armies  in  the  East  (Curtius,  v.  2,  7).  The  ancient  Persians  carried 
a  sacred  fire  in  silver  altars  before  their  armies,  and  other  ancient  nations  observed  a 
similar  custom  (Curtius,  iii.  3,  9  ;  Diod.  Sic,  xvi.  66).  As  the  Lord  now  undertakes 
the  miraculous  guidance  of  the  chosen  nation,  he  manifests  his  presence  by  a  majestic 
pillar  of  cloud,  reaching  from  earth  to  sky.  This  appears  in  the  day  as  a  dark  cloud, 
contrasted  by  its  shade  with  the  clearness  of  the  sunshine,  and  in  the  night  as  a  bright 
fire  to  give  them  light.  As  the  heat  of  the  day  was  unfavorable  for  active  exertion,  it 
was  customary  to  go  by  night  as  well  as  by  day  ;  and  hence  the  pillar  was  present  by 
night  and  by  day  to  the  journeying  people.  In  it  the  Lord  himself  was  present  as  the 
leader  and  protector  of  his  people  (Ex.  14  :  19,  20  ;  Num.  14  :  14  ;  Ps.  105  :  39)  ;  and 
from  it  he  speaks  to  Moses  as  the  representative  and  lawgiver  of  the  people  (Ex. 
19  ;  33  : 9  ;  Num.  12  : 5),  and  on  one  grand  occasion  to  the  assembled  people  them- 
selves (20).  He  who  thus  manifests  his  presence  to  his  people  is  also  called  the  angel 
of  the  God  (14  :  19).  The  same  mode  of  manifestation  is  varied  merely  according  to 
the  circumstances  in  the  lambent  flame  of  the  burning  bush.  It  appears  afterward 
also  in  the  cloud  over  the  mercy-seat,  between  the  cherubim,  which  in  the  theological 
language  of  Israel  is  called  the  shekinah  (nj''rti^')>  or  dwelling-place  of  God.  The 
elementary  forms  of  cloud  and  fire  are  extremely  apposite  to  the  present  purpose  of 
guiding  the  host  of  the  Lord  by  day  and  night.  They  have  at  the  same  time  a  general 
fitness  to  indicate  the  presence  of  the  Lord  without  awakening  any  material  or  carnal 
misconceptions  in  the  mind  of  the  beholder.  They  do  not  belong  to  the  kingdom  of 
nature  or  art,  and  therefore  do  not  suggest  any  debasing  views  of  the  Creator,  or  im- 
pute to  him  any  properties  of  the  creature.  They  are  in  themselves  preternatural,  and 
at  the  same  time  do  not  assume  any  definite  form  or  resemblance  of  any  creature,  and 
therefore  are  not  in  danger  of  being  taken  for  anything  but  the  surroundings  of  the 
present  Deity.  Fire,  in  its  various  forms  of  flame,  light,  heat,  and  electric  flash,  is  a 
striking  emblem  of  the  great  Spirit,  and  the  smoke  or  vapor  which  accompanies  it  is  a 
manifest  type  of  the  phenomena  which  surround  and  conceal  the  essence,  while  at 
the  same  time  they  indicate  the  presence  of  the  Mighty  Potentate.  The  pillar  that 
balances  itself  in  mid-air,  unsupported  by  the  earth  and  unshaken  by  the  winds  of 
heaven,  serves  well  to  mark  the  presence  of  him  who  is  independent  of  the  laws  of 
nature.     And  lastly  the  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud  (14  :  24)  is  manifestly  not  the  Lord,  nor 


92  THE    ESCAPE    OE    ISRAEL. 

a  figure  of  the  Lord,  but  the  visible  and  real  sign  of  his  actual  presence  among  his 
people  for  their  guidance,  protection,  and  comfort.  The  pillar  of  cloud  did  not  cease. 
It  did  not  vanish  from  their  view  ;  but  was  a  constant  and  unerring  signal  before  or 
in  the  sight  of  the  people.  We  have  not  now  the  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud  ;  but  we  have 
the  word  of  God,  which  is  a  lamp  to  our  feet  and  a  light  to  our  path.  This  also  is  a 
supernatural  revelation  of  the  present  Lord  and  his  Messiah  by  the  eternal  Spirit, 
conveyed  through  the  minds  and  words  of  holy  men.  This  spiritual  flame,  kindled 
from  heaven  and  enshrined  in  the  cloud  of  human  speech,  has  not  been  lost  or  ex- 
tinguished, but  continued  from  generation  to  generation,  and  is  in  the  way  of  being 
diffused  throughout  the  whole  world,  to  be  the  guide  of  the  nations  to  the  land  of 
promise  till  the  days  of  darkness  disappear.  It  remains  a  speaking  token  of  the  con- 
tinual presence  of  the  God  of  all  grace — of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost— in 
his  church. 

CHAP.    XIV. ESCAPE    OF    ISRAEL.       OVEKTHROW    OP    EGYPT. 

3.  riTTin  '^B  Pi  hachiroth,  the  mouth  of  the  caves  (pi-achi-rot,  place  of  reeds  or 
sedge,  Jablonski).     Hachiroth  bears  some  resemblance  to  Ajrud. 

7"I^/D  Migdol,  tower.  The  site  has  not  been  ascertained,  but  is  suppose^.  .  y 
some  to  be  Muktala. 

]DH  ^y3  Baal-tsephon,  place  of  Typhon,  the  fiery  and  mephitic  blast,  the  drought 
that  consumes  all  vegetable  life.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  may  mean  the  hiding 
of  Baal,  and  thus  form  a  local  name  for  the  west,  or  the  point  where  the  sun  sets. 

7.  ^i^ti^  third  part ;  a  musical  instrument ;  a  third  man,  TpiaraTTjS,  or  knight. 
The  last  term  is  here  employed  in  a  wide  sense,  to  denote  a  class  of  adjutants  who 
were  near  the  king  for  active  and  trusty  service  in  peace  or  war. 

XrV.  1.  And  the  Loed  spake  unto  Moses  saying,  2.  Speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel 
and  let  them  turn  and  encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth,  between  Migdol  and  the  sea  ;  before 
Baal-zephon,  over  against  it  let  them  encamp  by  the  sea.  3.  And  Pharoh  will  say  of 
the  sons  of  Israel,  They  are  entangled  in  the  land  ;  the  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in. 
4.  And  I  will  harden  Pharoh's  heart,  and  he  shall  pursue  after  them  ;  and  I  will  be 
honored  upon  Pharoh  and  upon  all  his  army,  and  Mizraim  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Loed.  And  they  did  so,  5.  And  it  was  told  the  king  of  Mizraim  that  the  people  fled  : 
and  the  heart  of  Pharoh  and  of  his  servants  was  turned  against  the  people  ;  and  they 
said.  What  is  this  we  have  done,  that  we  have  let  Israel  go  from  serving  us.  6.  And 
he  made  ready  his  chariot,  and  took  his  people  with  him.  7.  And  he  took  six  hundred 
chosen  chariots,  and  all  the  chariots  of  Mizraim,  and  knights  over  all  of  them.  8.  And 
the  Loed  hardened  the  heart  of  Pharoh  king  of  Mizraim,  and  he  pursued  after  the 
sons  of  Israel  :  and  the  sons  of  Israel  were  coming  out  with  a  high  hand.  9.  And 
Mizraim  pursued  after  them,  and  all  the  chariot  horses  of  Pharoh  and  his  horsemen, 
and  his  army  overtook  them  encamping  on  the  sea  by  Pi-hahiroth  before  Baal-zephon. 
10,  And  Pharoh  drew  nigh  :  and  the  sons  of  Israel  lifted  up  their  eyes,  and  behold 
Mizraim  marched  after  them  ;  and  the  sons  of  Israel  were  sore  afraid,  and  cried  unto 
the  Lord.  11.  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Because  there  were  no  graves  in  Mizraim 
hast  thou  taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ?  Why  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us 
to  bring  us  out  of  Mizraim  ?  12.  Is  not  this  the  word  that  we  told  thee  in  Mizraim, 
saying,  Let  us  alone  that  we  may  serve  Mizraim  ?  For  it  had  been  better  for  uis  to 
serve  Mizraim  than  to  die  in  the  wilderness.  13.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people, 
Fear  ye  not  ;  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Loed,  which  he  will  work  for 
you  to-day  :  for  whereas  ye  have  seen  Mizraim  to-day,  ye  shall  see  them  again  no  more 
for  ever.     14.  The  Loed  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold  your  peace,  ^  22. 

15.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Why  criest  thou  unto  me  ?     Speak  unto  the  sons 


EXODUS  XIV.  1-14.  93 

of  Israel  that  they  set  out.  16.  And  thou  lift  up  thy  rod  and  stretch  out  thy  hand 
over  the  sea  and  divide  it  :  and  the  sons  of  Israel  shall  go  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  on 
dry  ground.  17.  And  I,  behold  I  will  harden  the  heart  of  Mizraim,  and  they  shall  go 
in  after  them  ;  and  I  will  be  honored  upon  Pharoh  and  upon  all  his  army,  upon  his 
chariots  and  upon  his  horsemen.  18.  And  Mizraim  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Loed 
when  I  am  honored  upon  Pharoh,  upon  his  chariots  and  upon  his  horsemen.  19.  And 
the  angel  of  God,  that  went  before  the  camp  of  Israel,  removed  and  went  behind 
them  :  and  the  pillar  of  cloud  removed  from  before  them  and  stood  behind  them.  20. 
And  it  came  between  the  camp  of  Mizraim  and  the  camp  of  Israel  ;  and  the  cloud  and 
darkness  were  to  those,  and  it  lightened  the  night  to  these  ;  and  the  one  drew  not  near 
the  other  all  the  night.  21.  And  Moses  stretched  his  hand  over  the  sea  ;  and  the  Lord 
drove  the  sea  by  a  strong  east  wind  all  that  night,  and  made  the  sea  dry  ground  ;  and 
the  waters  were  divided.  22.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  went  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  on 
the  dry  ground  :  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand  and  on 
their  left.  23.  And  Mizraim  pursued,  and  all  Pharoh's  horses,  his  chariots,  and  his 
horsemen  went  after  them  into  the  midst  of  the  sea.  24.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the 
morning  watch  that  the  Lobd  looked  into  the  host  of  Mizraim  in  the  pillar  of  fire  and 
cloud,  and  troubled  the  host  of  Mizraim.  25.  And  he  took  off  their  chariot  wheels, 
and  made  them  drive  heavily  :  and  Mizraim  said,  Let  me  fl.ee  from  the  face  of  Israel  ; 
for  the  Lord  fighteth  for  them  against  Mizraim.  ^  23. 

26.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  out  thy  hand  over  the  sea,  and  the  waters 
shall  return  upon  Mizraim,  upon  his  chariots,  and  upon  his  horsemen.  27.  And 
Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the  sea,  and  the  sea  returned  when  the  morning 
appeared  to  its  force  :  and  Mizraim  fled  against  it  ;  and  the  Loed  overthrew  Mizraim 
in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  28.  And  the  waters  returned  and  covered  the  chariots,  and 
the  horsemen,  and  all  the  army  of  Pharoh  that  went  after  them  into  the  sea  :  there 
remained  of  them  not  even  one.  29.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  had  walked  on  the  dry 
ground  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  ;  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right 
hand  and  on  their  left.  30.  And  the  Lord  on  that  day  saved  Israel  out  of  the  hand  of 
Mizraim  ;  and  Israel  saw  Mizraim  dead  upon  the  sea-shore.  31.  And  Israel  saw  the 
great  hand  which  the  Loed  put  forth  on  Mizraim,  and  the  people  feared  the  Loed  : 
and  they  believed  in  the  Loed,  and  in  Moses  his  servant.  ^  24, 

The  ten  plagues  were  preceded  by  a  series  of  miraculous  signs  by  which  the  Lord 
attested  the  commission  of  his  servant.  The  present  chapter  records  the  miraculous 
escape  of  Israel  through  the  Eed  Sea,  and  the  overthrow  of  Mizraim  in  attempting  the 
same  passage  by  the  return  of  the  waters  to  their  ordinarj^  course.  The  number  ten  is 
expressive  of  completeness.  The  twelve  interpositions  of  the  Lord  on  behalf  of  his 
people  indicate  a  deliverance  according  to  the  covenant  of  grace  which  stands  between 
them.  The  number  twelve  plays  an  important  part  in  the  series  of  symbolical  numbers  ; 
for  being  composed  of  the  factors  three  and  four,  it  fits  well  with  the  notion  of  a  cove- 
nant between  God  and  the  world  of  mankind  (see  on  Gen.  2:3). 

1-14.  The  Lord's  direction  to  Israel  concerning  the  third  day's  march.  Let  them 
turn.  The  word  here  employed  denotes  to  return  or  turn  back  from  the  way  hitherto 
pursued.  Etham,  we  have  seen,  was  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness  to  which  it  gave 
name  (13  :  20).  To  go  forward  was  to  pass  immediately  into  the  wilderness,  whither 
Pharoh,  on  changing  his  mind,  might  have  pursued  without  hinderance  the  embar- 
rassed and  imperfectly  armed  fugitives.  If  the  Lord  would  not  lead  them  by  the  di- 
rect roa(J  into  the  land  of  promise,  lest  they  should  be  discouraged  by  the  appearance 
of  war,  much  more  must  he  not  conduct  them  straight  into  the  wilderness, 
where  they  might  be  readily  overtaken  and  discomfited  by  a  well  disciplined 
host  with  all  the  accoutrements  of  war.  Hence  the  order  to  change  the  line  of  march. 
Encamp  before  Pl-hahiroth.  The  place  here  mentioned  has  been  by  many  identified 
with  Ajrud,  a  fort,  with  a  well  of  bitter  water,  on  the  pilgrim  route  from  Cairo  to  Mecca, 


94  THE    PURSUIT   OE   PHAROH. 

four  hours'  north-west  of  Suez.  The  site  is  probable  enough,  and  even  the  name  has 
a  distant  resemblance  to  that  in  the  text.  Between  Migdol  and  the  sea.  The  place  here 
mentioned  is  named  from  its  nature,  being  a  tower  situated  on  some  eminence  or 
vantage  ground,  between  which  and  the  sea  lay  a  level  area  of  about  ten  miles  extent. 
In  this  plain  the  marshalled  bands  of  Israel  are  to  encamp,  having  apparently  Ajrud, 
or  Hahiroth  to  the  north-west,  Migdol  to  the  west,  and  the  sea  to  the  east.  Before 
Baal-zephon.  In  the  absence  of  definite  information,  and  after  the  local  changes  of 
thirty-three  centuries,  it  appears  impossible  to  determine  the  site  thus  designated.  It 
seems  connected  with  Baal,  or  the  Sun  ;  and  was  perhaps  a  temple  erected  on  a  peak, 
or  spur,  of  Jebel  Attaka.  Hence  it  lay,  not  improbably,  on  the  south  of  the  encamping 
ground,  which  was  then  before  Baal-zephon  that  was  over  against  Pi-hahiroth.  Thus 
the  Israelites  in  their  new  station  would  have  the  mountains  on  the  west  and  south, 
and  the  sea  on  the  east.  They  were  thus  brought  into  the  only  place  where  an  effectual 
barrier  could  be  put  between  them  and  a  pursuing  enemy,  as  the  event  will  show.  3. 
And  Fharoh  loill  say.  This  very  position  of  Israel,  which  is  eventually  to  relieve  them 
from  a  harassing  and  overwhelming  foe,  seems  of  all  others  the  most  certain  to  leave 
them  an  easy  prey  to  the  destroyer.  They  are  entangled  in  the  land.  They  have  fallen 
into  a  snare,  from  which  it  is  impossible  to  escape.  It  is  still  in  my  power  to  detain 
them  in  the  land  from  which  their  leader  has  not  been  able  to  extricate  them.  The 
wilderness  has  shut  them  in.  They  have  been  afraid  to  face  the  wilderness,  which  does 
not  naturally  afford  the  means  of  supporting  so  vast  a  host  of  men,  in  addition  to  the 
concourse  of  flocks  and  herds,  for  which  it  might  yield  a  scanty  subsistence.  Pharoh 
will  conjecture  that  the  fear  of  perishing  by  famine  has  been  the  cause  of  their  turning 
back.  4.  And  I  v:iU  harden  Fharoh'' s  heart.  See  oh  4  :  21.  And  I  will  he  honored  upon 
Pharoh.  The  Lord  has  been  already  honored  in  the  eleven  manifestations  of  his  power 
before  Pharoh.  His  glory  will  be  still  more  signally  displayed  in  the  twelfth.  Shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  See  on  6  :  2.  And  they  did  so.  This  brief  sentence  sums  up 
their  compliance. 

5-9.  The  pursuit  of  Pharoh.  The  third  day  had  now  arrived.  The  panic  which  had 
seized  the  Egj^ptians  had  now  given  way  to  other  feelings.  Pride,  ambition,  and  re- 
venge again  took  possession  of  the  breast  of  Pharoh.  But  the  narrative  reverts  to  the 
first  or  second  day  after  the  escape  of  Israel.  It  was  told  the  king  of  Mizraim  that  the 
people  fled.  This  may  have  taken  place  on  the  second  day  after  their  departure.  On 
the  first  day  they  must  have  been  too  busy  with  the  mournful  task  of  caring  for  the 
dead  (Num.  33  :  4).  The  heart  of  Pharoh  and  of  his  servants  was  turned  against  the  people. 
The  sight  of  their  own  dead,  and  the  thought  of  those  making  their  escape  who  had 
been  the  occasion  of  this  domestic,  as  well  as  national,  calamity,  aroused  the  spirit  of 
enmity  in  their  hearts.  What  is  this  we  have  done  ?  The  fierceness  of  their  disappoint- 
ment now  exceeds  the  bitterness  of  their  grief.  6,  7.  Made  ready  his  chariot.  Orders 
for  instant  preparation  were  not  long  in  following  this  exasperation  on  the  part  of  Pha- 
roh and  his  servants,  and  the  military  part  of  the  nation  would  be  constrained  to  a 
prompt  acquiescence.  On  the  second  or  third  day,  therefore,  Pharoh  and  his  people 
set  out  in  pursuit.  Six  hundred  chosen  chariots,  belonging  to  the  king  himself  ;  all  the 
chariots  belonging  to  the  state.  Horses  were  imported  into  Egypt  from  Asia.  They 
are  first  mentioned  on  the  monuments  in  the  reign  of  Ames  or  Amosis,  the  first  of  the 
18th  dynasty,  and  are  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  by  the  shepherd  kings. 
Herodotus  relates  (ii.  108)  that  Sesostris  so  intersected  the  country  with  canals  as  to 
render  it  unfit  for  horses  or  chariots.     And  knights  over  all  of  them.     The  knights  here 


EXODUS  XIV.   10-25.  95 

are  men-at-arms,  who  were  ready  for  any  service  requiring  promptitude  and  fidelity. 
They  cannot  now  be  more  exactly  defined.  8.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  were  coming  out 
with  a  high  hand.  The  people  were  animated  with  the  triumphant  confidence  which  so 
great  a  deliverance  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord  had  inspired,  and  their  courage  had  not 
yet  been  damped  by  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians  pursuing.  Overtook  them.  We  are  now 
fairly  arrived  at  the  third  day,  on  which  the  Israelites  encamped  on  the  sea  by  Pi- 
hahiroth  before  Baal-zephon.  The  pursuers  had  probably  started  on  the  second  day, 
and  the  deflection  of  the  Israelites  was  enjoined  in  order  to  place  an  impassable  bar- 
rier between  them  and  their  implacable  enemy, 

10.  The  expostulation  of  the  people  with  Moses  when  there  seems  to  be  no  possi- 
bility of  escaping  from  Pharoh.  And  Pharoh  drew  nigh,  so  as  to  come  within  view. 
The  sons  of  Israel  descry  the  pursuing  enemy,  and  are  sore  afraid.  They  cried  unto 
the  Lord,  doubtless  in  the  extremity  of  their  despair.  If  they  had  bethought  them  of 
the  wonderful  interposition  that  opened  their  way  out  of  Egypt,  or  cast  their  eyes  on 
the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  that  had  begun  to  accompany  them,  they  might  have  re- 
tained their  self-possession,  even  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  But  at  the  sight  of 
their  former  masters,  approaching  in  all  the  pomp  of  war,  their  courage  fails.  In  a 
human  point  of  view  their  case  was  bad  enough.  The  mountains  were  on  the  west 
and  south,  the  sea  on  the  east,  and  the  war  chariots  of  the  well-appointed  foe  advanc- 
ing on  the  north.  There  was  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  ultimate  escape  for  a  fugitive 
people  scantily  furnished  with  the  means  of  defence.  11,  12.  In  the  agony  of  distress 
they  upbraid  their  leader  with  the  apparent  result  of  his  ill-advised  rashness.  13,  14. 
Moses  is  still  strong  in  faith.  He  has  had  abundant  proofs  of  the  power  and  truth  of 
God,  and  he  has  heard  him  announce  that  he  will  now  be  honored  in  Pharoh  and  all 
his  army.  He  has  therefore  no  doubt  of  full  and  timely  deliverance.  He  accordingly 
exhorts  the  people  to  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  Ye  shall  see  them 
no  more  for  ever.  This  implies  that  he  was  not  unaware  of  the  catastrophe  that  was 
approaching.  The  Lord  shall  fight  for  you.  He  only  could  have  delivered  a  defenceless 
people  from  a  fully  equipped  and  infuriated  enemy  ;  and  he  has  taken  his  own  way 
of  accomplishing  the  task.  He  might  no  doubt  have  allowed  the  Israelites  to  march  on 
into  the  wilderness,  and  in  some  other  way  arrested  the  hot  pursuit  of  the  vindictive 
Pharoh.  But  it  is  merely  impossible  for  us  to  shew  that  any  other  way  would  have 
equally  well  served  all  the  purposes  of  salvation  to  the  fugitives,  destruction  to  the 
pursuers,  and  admonition  to  all  the  survivors  of  that  memorable  night  that  was  draw- 
ing nigh. 

15-25.  The  passage  of  Israel  on  dry  ground  through  the  Eed  Sea.  Why  criest  thou 
unto  me  ?  This  is  a  reply,  it  may  be,  to  the  mere  circumstances  of  the  case,  that  have 
a  voice  that  reaches  the  heart  of  God  (Gen.  4  :  10),  but  also  no  doubt  to  the  earnest 
supplications  of  the  people,  and  even  of  Moses.  It  seems  to  intimate  that  Moses  was 
the  representative  of  the  despairing  people,  or  that  he  was  himself,  either  unduly 
moved  by  the  apparent  danger,  or  in  some  degree  forgetful  of  what  ought  to  be  done 
at  this  momentous  crisis.  That  they  set  out,  break  up  their  present  encampment.  It 
is  probable  that  the  marching  was  done  for  the  most  part  in  the  night,  or  at  all  events 
in  the  evenings  and  mornings,  and  that  the  people  had  rested  some  time  in  their 
present  station.  Lift  up  thy  rod.  It  is  not  recorded  that  Moses  was  directed  before 
this  to  employ  his  rod  for  opening  up  the  way.  But  the  question  of  the  Lord  seems 
to  intimate  that  he  might  have  been  prepared  for  such  a  command.  17,  18.  In  these 
words  we  have  a  reiteration  of  the  statement  contained  in  vs.  4,  with  considerable 


96  OVERTHKOW    OF    PHAROH. 

amplification  in  the  details.  I  will  harden  the  heart  of  Mizraim,  not  of  Pharoh  only. 
Upon  his  horsemen  and  upon  his  chariots.  This  is  a  specification  of  the  principal  or 
characteristic  parts  of  Pharoh's  host.  19,  20.  The  issuing  of  the  above  command  to 
Moses  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  steps  or  movements  in  the  narrative  correspondent 
with  the  native  grandeur  of  the  occasion.  These  two  verses  contain  the  second  step. 
The  angel  of  God,  with  the  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud  that  had  hitherto  headed  the  march 
of  Israel's  manhood,  now  moved  to  the  rear,  between  the  camps  or  hosts  of  Israel  and 
Mizraim.  This  awe-inspiring  column  now  assumed  a  twofold  aspect,  presenting  a 
dark  and  cloudy  side  to  Egj'^pt,  and  a  bright  and  cheering  one  to  Israel,  and  remaining 
as  a  tower  of  fire  between  them  all  the  night.  21.  The  third  step  is  the  dividing  of 
the  waters.  Drove  the  sea  by  a  strong  east  wind.  A  strong  north-east  wind  is  said  to 
have  considerable  influence  in  the  present  day  on  the  ebb  of  the  tide  in  the  Ked  Sea, 
as  well  as  in  other  places.  Such  a  natural  occurrence,  however,  only  drives  out  the 
whole  body  of  waters  farther  from  the  shore.  It  does  not  "  divide  the  waters,"  and  so 
make  them  "  a  wall  "  on  each  side  of  the  dry  ground,  or  leave  time  or  space  for  the 
passage  of  a  large  multitude,  or  happen  precisely  at  the  moment  when  escape  from  an 
advancing  foe  makes  it  convenient  for  the  leader  of  the  retreating  squadrons  to  wave 
over  the  waters  his  rod  of  power.  We  cannot  explain  how  the  sea  became  dry  ground. 
We  only  know  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  to  stretch  out  his  wand,  and  he  did 
so,  and  that  the  resulting  change  was  accompanied  with  a  strong  east  wind.  Whether 
there  was  an  elevation  of  the  bed  of  the  sea  we  are  not  informed,  and  the  letter  of  the 
text  seems  not  in  favor  of  it.  22.  The  next  step  is  the  passage  of  Israel,  with  a  wall  of 
waters  on  each  side.  23-25.  Then,  in  hot  haste,  the  Egyptians  rush  in  between  the 
watery  walls.  All  their  host  are  soon  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  In  the  morning  watch. 
Before  the  captivity  the  night  was  divided  by  the  Israelites  into  three  watches,  the 
first  watch  (ni'lDIi^N  IZ^X"1'  I^^^-  2  :  19),  the  middle  watch  (njI'rTl  n'lDIL'i*?'  J^^g- 
7  :  19),  and  the  morning  watch.  It  appears  that  the  Israelites  had  the  space  of 
two  watches  at  least,  or  eight  hours,  for  effecting  their  passage.  The  Lord  looked. 
An  unwonted  darting  of  the  lightning  flash  and  rumbling  of  the  awful  thunder  was 
the  probable  accompaniment  of  this  look.  And  troubled  the  host  of  Mizraim.  Flash 
after  flash  shot  through  the  sky  ;  peal  after  peal  broke  over  their  heads  ;  and  the 
midnight  darkness  prevented  them  from  driving  their  chariots  with  safety.  And  he 
took  off  their  chariot  wheels.  We  are  not  told  whether  this  was  done  with  or  without 
special  means.  But  we  can  readily  perceive  that  the  boulders,  hollows,  and  other  in- 
equalities of  a  sea-bed,  with  the  mental  confusion  arising  from  the  thunder,  would 
render  the  ground,  which  was  passable  for  footmen  with  light,  very  difficult  and  de- 
structive to  the  wheels  of  the  Egyptian  cars  in  the  dark.  The  wonders  of  the  few 
preceding  weeks  recur  to  their  minds,  and  the  conviction  again  breaks  upon  them 
with  irresistible  force,  that  the  Lord  fights  for  Israel. 

It  is  of  course  impossible  to  determine  such  details  of  this  extraordinary  event  as  are 
not  expressly  laid  down  in  the  narrative.  And  it  is  but  fair  to  the  narrator  to  abstain 
from  any  hypothesis  that  would  not  square  with  its  consistency  or  credibility.  We 
have  already  seen  (12  :  37)  that  the  text  does  not  assert  or  warrant  the  assumption  that 
the  whole  people,  with  their  flocks  and  herds,  ever  assembled  at  one  point.  The 
women,  children,  and  servants,  accompanied  perhaps  with  a  portion  of  the  full-grown 
men  for  help  and  protection,  continued  in  charge  of  their  cattle  and  movable  prop- 
erty, and  we  have  no  doubt,  moved  with  such  speed  as  they  might,  in  small  parties, 
grazing  the  flocks  as  they  went  along  toward  the  wilderness,  with  which  their  pastoral 


EXODUS  XIV.  26-31.  97 

life  made  them  perfectly  familiar.  Intelligence  of  the  general  movement  would  be 
convej^ed  to  these  scattered  parties  in  ways  that  are  habitual  to  all  wandering  tribes. 
The  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud  would  also  be  conspicuous  from  afar,  and  would  serve  to 
make  the  ramblers  acquainted  with  the  position  and  progress  of  the  main  body  of 
full-grown  men.  When,  therefore,  the  order  was  given  at  Etham  to  turn  back  and 
encamp  at  "  the  mouth  of  the  caves,"  it  referred  only  to  the  five  or  six  hundred  thou- 
sand men  who  were  marshalled  and  encamped,  and  were  the  object  of  attack  to 
Mizraim  and  the  ground  of  confidence  to  their  own  wives  and  children.  Allowing  the 
manhood  of  Israel  to  be  all  present,  and  assigning  a  square  yard  of  standing-ground 
to  each,  we  find  they  can  be  placed  within  the  square  of  half  a  mile  ;  and,  consequently, 
they  have  scope  enough  to  deploy  and  encamp  within  the  plain  of  ten  miles  square 
lying  between  the  hiUs  and  the  sea.  At  Suez,  which  is  situated  on  or  by  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  Kolzum  or  KAva/ia,  about  two  miles  from  the  most  northern  point  of  the 
shore,  the  gulf  is  not  more  than  two  thirds  of  a  mile  wide.  But  the  position  of  Suez 
does  not  correspond  with  the  description  of  the  jjlace  of  encampment  given  in  the 
text.  This  seems  to  have  been  at  the  base  of  Jebel  Attakah,  where  the  channel  is  six 
or  seven  miles  across.  If  the  "  dry  ground  "  were  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  the  Israel- 
ites would  form  a  column  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  rank  and  a  mile  in  file.  Such  a  body 
might  cross  a  channel  of  six  miles  in  six  hours,  and  therefore,  notwithstanding  the 
roughness  of  a  sea-bottom,  might  easily  decamp,  set  out,  and  reach  the  opposite  bank 
in  eight.  By  the  time  they  had  reached  the  shore,  the  pursuers,  with  their  chariots 
of  war,  would  be  in  the  middle  of  the  channel,  where  the  depression  of  the  bottom 
and  the  difficulty  of  progress  were  the  greatest. 

26-31.  In  three  more  verses  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptian  host  is  described. 
Stretch  out  thy  hand  with  the  rod  of  power.  The  waters  shall  return  upon  Mizraim. 
When  the  power  that  restrained,  for  the  time,  the  laws  of  nature  is  withdrawn,  th© 
waters  return  to  their  Avonted  level.  Three  or  four  fathoms  would  sufiice  to  bury  all 
the  host  of  Egy]3t  in  the  overwhelming  waves.  At  the  appearing  of  the  morning  the 
sea  returned  to  its  course.  At  one  fell  sweep  of  the  mighty  waters  all  the  chivalry  of 
Mizraim  is  laid  for  ever  low.  A  mild  message,  a  manifest  sign  from  heaven,  only 
exasperated  the  pride  of  Pharoh.  Ten  awful  plagues  failed  to  subdue  the  obstinacy 
of  his  heart.  A  final  judgment,  of  terrific  sublimity,  terminates  his  career  of  presump- 
tion (vs.  29-31).  In  a  style  of  simple  grandeur  the  Hebrew  penman  closes  his  narra- 
tive with  a  brief  summary  of  Israel's  deliverance.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  had  icalked. 
This  verse  marks  the  contrast  between  the  march  of  Mizraim  and  Israel.  The  Lord  on 
that  day  saved  Israel  The  overwhelming  sea  effectually,  and  for  ever,  arrested  the 
pursuit  of  the  Egyptians.  The  Lord  chose  this  way.  If  the  Israelites  had  been 
allowed  to  advance  without  deviating  from  their  route  into  the  wilderness,  he  must 
have  adopted  some  other  way,  equally  miraculous,  of  stopping  the  progress  of  their 
foes.  Mizraim  dead  upon  the  sea-shore.  The  east  wind  ceasing  on  the  outstretching  of 
Moses's  hand,  and  perhaps  even  a  western  breeze  springing  up,  the  reaction  of  the  re- 
turning sea  cast  up  the  greater  part  of  the  Egyptian  army,  with  all  its  chariots  and  ac- 
coutrements, on  the  eastern  shore,  at  the  feet  of  the  Israelites.  There  is  the  utmost 
probability,  therefore,  in  the  statement  of  Josephus  (II.  xvi.  6),  made  before  recent 
controversies  were  mooted,  that  "  on  the  next  day  Moses  gathered  together  the  weapons 
of  the  Egj'ptians,  which  were  brought  to  the  camp  of  the  Hebrews  by  the  current  of 
the  sea,  and  the  force  of  the  winds  assisting  it  ;  and  he  conjectured  that  this  also 
happened  by  divine  providence,  that  so  they  might  not  be  destitute  of  weapons."     The 


98  THE   SONG   OF   MOSES. 

great  hand  which  the  Lord  put  forth.  To  make  a  hand  is  one  of  those  phrases  on  which 
old  English  and  ancient  Hebrew  coincide.  Several  salutary  consequences  of  this  great 
wonder  which  the  people  had  seen,  are  here  enumerated.  The  fear  of  the  Lord,  that 
reverential  and  submissive  feeling  which  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  was  called  forth 
by  the  awful  grandeur  of  that  scene  of  judgment  and  mercy  which  they  witnessed. 
Trust  in  the  Lord  was  awakened  in  their  breasts  by  the  discriminating  result,  in  which 
an  awful  doom  fell  upon  their  adversaries,  and  a  great  salvation  was  accomplished  for 
themselves.  That  their  confidence  in  Moses  should  now  be  established  was  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  trust  in  the  Lord.  There  was  at  the  same  time  a  lesson  here  for 
all  nations  that  were  within  hearing  to  return  to  the  Lord,  the  God  of  their  being,  and 
submit  themselves  to  his  rightful  authority  and  proffered  mercy.  The  intelligent 
reader  will  acknowledge  that  these  verses  form  a  meet  finale  to  the  preceding  narrative. 

CHAP.    XV. — THE    SONG   OF   MOSES. 

3.  pji  Jail,  he  who  has  teen,  has  manifested  his  being  by  illustrious  acts  of  divine 
power.  It  seems  to  stand  for  j-|j-)  the  perfect  of  fji,-;  as  rl^^  for  r[S,~|  and  ^p  from 
Cp.  This  name  occurs  for  the  first  time  after  the  signs  and  wonders  of  the 
divine  presence  in  the  land  of  Egypt  ;  as  the  name  Ehjeh  occurs  before  these 
extraordinary  events.  As  the  latter  denotes  him  who  is  about  to  manifest  his  be- 
ing, so  the  former  seems  to  indicate  him  who  has  manifested  his  being.  As  Jeho- 
vah is  the  self-existent,  the  self-manifesting  Agent,  the  constant  Causer  of  all 
effects  ;  so  Ehjeh  is  the  prophetic  Jehovah,  and  Jah  the  historical  Jehovah.  This 
historical  shade  of  meaning  is  obvious  in  Isa.  12  :  2,  where  the  first  clause  of 
verse  2  is  quoted  with  Jah  Jehovah,  instead  of  the  simple  Jah,  and  in  Isa.  26  :  4, 
where  the  same  combination  occurs.  This  conjunction  of  the  names  also  teaches 
us  that  they  are  not  synonymous,  but  have  a  perceptible  difference  of  meaning, 
such  as  we  have  indicated.  In  the  prayer  of  Hezekiah  (Isa.  38  :  11)  we  cannot 
mistake  the  same  reference  to  him  who  has  actually  and  signally  manifested  his 
being  in  the  former  history  of  his  chosen  people,  and  will  yet  still  further  vindi- 
cate his  title  to  this  emphatic  designation.  This  name  also  occuis  forty- one  times 
in  the  Psalms,  which  are  full  of  historical  allusions.  In  Ps.  118  :  14,  the  present 
clause  is  again  repeated,  and  the  name  recurs  six  times  in  all.  The  doxology 
rV^bbn  i^  repeated  twenty-four  times.  The  name  is  natural  in  such  a  combina- 
tion, as  praise  often  turns  upon  benefits  actually  conferred. 

nijJ^  -^^^'^^  9^of\fy  or  celebrate.     Others,  I  will  cause  to  dwell.  maTce  a  habita- 
tion for. 

20.   ^'''110  Miriam,  M-apldix^  Mapla^  exalted,  contumacious  or  bitter. 

Vyj  timbrel,  the  Spanish  aduffa  or  diff  ;  r.  strike. 
23.  m^D  Mar  ah,  Mtterness. 
27.  D^''N  Elim,  trees. 

XV.     1.  Then  sang  Moses  and  the  sons  of  Israel  this  song  unto  the  Lord,  and  they 
spake,  saying  : 

I  will  sing  unto  the  Loed,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously  : 
The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea. 


EXODUS   XV.  99 

2.  My  strengtli  and  song  is  Jah,  and  he  became  my  salvation  : 
He  is  my  God,  and  I  will  glorify  him  ; 

My  father's  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him. 

3.  The  LoED  is  a  man  of  war,  the  Lord  is  his  name. 

4.  Pharoh's  chariots  and  his  army  hath  he  cast  into  the  sea  : 
And  the  choice  of  his  knights  are  drowned  in  the  Bed  Sea. 

5.  The  depths  have  covered  them  : 
They  sank  into  the  pools  as  a  stone. 

6.  Thy  right  hand,  O  Lobd,  is  glorious  in  power  : 
Thy  right  hand,  O  Lokd,  crnsheth  the  enemy. 

7.  And  in  thy  great  triumph  thou  overthrowest  thy  foes  : 
Thou  sendest  forth  thy  wrath  ;  it  consumes  them  as  stubble. 

8.  And  with  the  blast  of  thy  nostrils,  the  waters  were  heaved  up  : 
The  floods  stood  upright  as  a  heap  : 

The  depths  were  condensed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

9.  The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  overtake, 

I  will  divide  the  spoil  :  my  lust  shall  be  full  of  them  :  , 

I  will  draw  my  sword  ;  my  hand  shall  seize  them. 

10.  Thou  blewest  with  thy  blast',  the  sea  covered  them  : 
They  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 

11.  Who  is  like  thee  among  the  gods,  O  Lord  ? 
Who  is  like  thee,  glorious  in  holiness. 
Awful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  ? 

12.  Thou  stretchedst  out  thy  right  hand  ;  the  earth  swallowed  them  : 

13.  Thou  leddest  in  thy  mercy  the  people  thou  hast  redeemed  : 
Thou  guidedst  them  in  thy  strength  to  thy  holy  habitation. 

14.  The  nations  have  heard,  they  tremble  : 
Terror  hath  seized  the  inhabitants  of  Pelasheth. 

15.  Then  were  the  dukes  of  Edom  confounded  ; 

The  chiefs  of  Moab,  trembling  took  hold  of  them  : 
All  the  inhabitants  of  Kenaan  melted  away. 

16.  Horror  and  trembling  shall  fall  upon  them  ; 
By  thy  great  arm  they  shall  be  still  as  a  stone  : 
Till  thy  people  pass  over,  O  Loed  ; 

Till  the  people  thou  hast  purchased  pass  over. 

17.  Thou  shalt  bring  them  and  plant  them  in  the  hill  of  thine  inheritance 
The  place  of  thy  dwelling  thou  hast  made,  O  Loed  : 

The  sanctuary,  O  Lord,  thy  hands  have  established. 

18.  The  Loed  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

19.  For  the  horse  of  Pharoh  went  with  his  chariot  and  his  horsemen  into  the  sea  ; 
and  the  Loed  brought  back  upon  them  the  waters  of  the  sea  :  and  the  sons  of  Israel 
went  on  the  dry  ground  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  "f[  25. 

20.  And  Miriam  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  took  the  timbrel  in  her  hand  ; 
and  all  the  women  came  forth  after  her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances.  21.  And 
Miriam  answered  them.  Sing  ye  to  the  Loed,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously  ;  the 
horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.  §  16. 

22.  And  Moses  led  Israel  from  the  Red  Sea  ;  and  they  came  out  into  the  wilderness 
of  Shur  :  and  they  went  three  days  in  the  wilderness,  and  found  no  water.  23.  And 
they  came  to  Marah,  and  could  not  drink  the  water  out  of  Marah,  for  it  was  bitter  : 
therefore  they  called  the  name  of  it  Marah.  24.  And  the  people  murmured  against 
Moses,  saying.  What  shall  we  drink  ?  25.  And  he  cried  unto  the  Loed,  and  the  Loed 
shewed  him  a  tree,  and  he  cast  it  into  the  water,  and  the  water  was  made  sweet  :  there 
he  set  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance,  and  there  he  proved  them.  26.  And  he  said, 
If  thou  wilt  diligently  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  LoeD  thy  God,  and  do  that  which  is 
right  in  his  eyes,  and  give  ear  to  his  commandments,  and  keep  all  his  statutes,  no 
disease  which  I  put  upon  Mizraim  will  I  put  upon  thee  ;  for  I  am  the  Loed  that  heal- 
eth  thee.  §  17. 

27.  And  they  came  to  Elim,  where  were  twelve  springs  of  water  and  seventy  palm 
trees  ;  and  they  encamped  there  by  the  water. 

A  reverential  fear  and  a  grateful  trust  in  the  Lord  were  the  sentiments  that  swelled  in 


100  THE   SONG   OF   MOSES. 

the  breasts  of  Israel  as  they  beheld  the  issue  of  that  awful  interposition  by  which  they 
themselves  were  saved  and  their  enemies  destroyed.  These  emotions  find  expression 
in  the  following  song  of  Moses,  the  highest  merit  of  which  is  its  fitness  for  the  occasion. 
It  is  a  triumphal  ode,  in  which  the  joyful  people  celebrate  the  praises  of  their  divine 
deliverer.  They  ask  not  wisely,  who  demand  a  long  training  or  a  high  culture  as  the 
needful  antecedent  of  a  nation's  songs.  The  nation  that  is  capable  of  achieving  or 
estimating  noble  deeds  is  wont  to  contain  within  itself  some  voice  that  gives  meet 
utterance  to  its  loftiest  emotions  in  harmonious  numbers.  The  man  who  was  able  to 
describe  in  fitting  symmetry  of  style  the  ancient  ways  of  God  with  man  was  also  com- 
petent to  express,  in  the  measured  flow  of  winged  words,  the  devout  thanksgiving  of 
Israel  to  the  God  of  his  salvation.  This  ode  consists  of  eighteen  verses,  arranged  in 
alternate  stanzas  of  three  and  two  verses.  It  consequently  begins  and  ends  with  a 
stanza  of  three  verses.  The  long  stanzas  refer  to  the  Lord  and  his  ransomed  people, 
and  the  short  stanzas  to  their  defeated  or  dismayed  opponents.  If  read  according  to 
this  arrangement  the  import  of  the  ode  will  come  out  more  finely  and  strikingly.  The 
song,  and  the  circumstances  which  accompanied  its  singing,  occupy  twenty-one  verses, 
and  the  remaining  seven  verses  of  the  chapter  record  the  journey  to  and  the  encamp- 
ment at  Elim. 

1-18.  The  song  of  Moses.  Then  sang.  On  the  very  occasion  when  the  mind  of 
Moses  was  strung  up  to  the  highest  pitch  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
was  this  ode  composed.  Moses  and  the  sons  of  Israel.  The  primitive  tribes  of  mankind 
seem  to  have  had  a  singular  aptitude  for  taking  up  the  strain  of  emotion,  and  chant- 
ing it  in  concert  to  some  simple  measure.  The  harp  and  the  pipe  were  among  the 
earliest  discoveries  of  the  race,  and  these  presuppose  the  modulated  cadences  of  the 
human  voice.  The  untutored  ear  of  the  enthusiast  arranges  the  coming  words  into 
the  artless  warblings  of  immortal  verse.  The  fine  melody,  laden  with  the  noble  senti- 
ment, finds  an  echo  in  other  breasts,  and  the  sublime  harmony  of  sound  and  feeling 
bursts  from  the  assembled  multitude.  Music  is  the  handmaid  of  memory  and  the 
shadow  of  reason.  It  cannot  surprise  us,  then,  to  find  Moses  and  the  sons  of  Israel 
on  the  scene  and  in  the  hour  of  so  great  a  deliverance  giving  utterance  to  their  com- 
mon emotions  in  the  triumphal  ode.  This  song  unto  the  Lord.  There  wanted  but  this 
addition,  "  unto  the  Lord,"  to  give  its  true  character  to  the  solemn  anthem  which  now 
rose  from  the  many  thousands  of  Israel.  Man  never  rises  to  the  height  of  his  dignity 
until  he  realizes  his  relation  to  his  Creator.  The  following  hymn  is  a  model  and  a 
storehouse  of  materials  for  all  future  songs  of  praise. 

1-5.  These  verses  contain  the  first  period  of  song.  Three  verses  .celebrate  the 
praises  of  the  Lord  ;  two  dwell  on  the  downfall  of  his  enemies.  I  xcill  sing.  Each 
patriot  for  himself  lifts  up  the  general  song  of  praise.  Unto  the  iord,  unto  God,  whose 
character  it  is  to  give  existence  to  his  purpose  and  promise.  For  he  hath  triumphed 
gloriously ;  he  has  manifested  the  grandeur  of  his  power  to  save  the  oppressed  and 
destroy  the  oppressor.  The  horse  and  his  rider.  This  is  a  general  reference  to  the  scene 
of  the  preceding  night,  in  which  the  promise-performing  character  of  God  was  con- 
spicuously displayed.  2.  Jah,  He  who  has  manifested  his  being  by  signal  acts  of 
power.  My  strength  and  song.  He  has  proved  himself  able  to  deliver  me,  and  there- 
fore he  is  the  object  of  my  praise.  Became  my  salvation.  By  actually  saving  me  from 
the  might  of  Egypt,  he  has  earned  his  title  to  the  name  Yah.  My  God.  I  have,  in 
my  own  person,  experienced  his  goodness,  and  with  appropriating  faith  I  gratefully 
confess  him  to  be  mine.     I  will  glorify  him.     I  will  proclaim  his  excellency.     My 


I 


EXODUS  XV.   6-15.  101 

father's  God,  the  God  of  history  and  of  covenant,  who  chose  the  head  of  that  peculiar 
people  to  which  I  belong.  1  will  exalt  him,  acknowledge  his  transcendent  majesty. 
3.  A  man  of  war.  A  mighty  potentate,  who  encounters  and  vanquishes  all  the  adver- 
saries of  good.  The  Lord  is  his  name.  It  is  his  essential  characteristic  to  be  the 
Author  and  sole  Fountain  of  all  existence,  and  the  performer  of  his  promise.  Never 
since  the  beginning  of  things  did  this  property  of  God  receive  a  more  practical  proof 
than  in  the  rescue  of  Israel  from  the  bondage  of  Mizraim.  After  this  triad  of  praise 
follow  two  verses  of  song  on  the  downfall  of  Egypt.  4.  PharoK  s  chariots  and  his  army. 
This  verse  forms  a  fine  synthetic  parallel,  in  which  the  second  member  ascends  above 
the  first,  and  so  the  two  constitute  a  climax.  The  next  verse  is  a  briefer  climax  of  a 
similar  kind. 

6-lC.  In  this  second  wave  of  song  three  verses,  again,  are  dedicated  to  the  Lord, 
and  two  to  the  adversary.  In  vs.  6  we  have  a  parallel,  in  which  the  first  member 
dwells  on  the  cause  and  the  second  on  the  effect.  In  vs.  7  the  parallel  is  in  the  sense 
rather  than  the  form  of  the  words.  In  vs.  8  three  parallel  members  lend  their  em- 
phasis to  the  deed  of  wonder  which  they  celebrate.  The  former  triplet  referred  more 
to  the  character  of  God  ;  the  present  gives  more  prominence  to  his  procedure.  The 
two  verses  relating  to  the  adversary  are  full  of  compressed  energy.  In  vs.  9  six  in- 
tents of  the  enemy  are  condensed  into  one  short  utterance,  which  may  be  divided 
into  two  parts,  of  three  sentences  each,  according  to  the  punctuation,  or  into  three 
members,  of  two  sentences  each,  according  to  the  printing.  In  the  next  verse  of  two 
members,  the  breath  of  God's  mouth  is  enough,  not  only  to  upset  all  these  arrogant 
purposes,  but  to  sink  the  proud  boasters  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  In  the  former 
couplet  the  outward  array  of  Pharoh's  host  was  depicted,  in  the  present  the  inward 
vaunting  of  their  soul  is  expressed  ;  in  both  the  same  disastrous  end  is  poetically 
recorded. 

11-15.  This  is  the  third  swell  of  this  sacred  anthem,  and  it  is  a  step  in  advance  of 
the  other  two.  Among  the  gods,  among  the  mighty  ones,  the  imaginary  deities  whom 
the  nations  adore.  Glorious  in  holiness.  The  characteristics  of  God  here  set  forth  are 
those  on  which  he  has  been  on  this  occasion  distinguished  from  all  conceivable  ob- 
jects of  comparison.  Holiness,  or  absolute  purity  of  nature,  is  one  of  these  attributes 
of  God,  in  which  he  transcends  all  fallen  man's  imaginary  gods.  The  gods  of  Greece, 
Kome,  India,  and  all  other  heathens,  partook  of  the  moral  infirmity  of  their  votaries. 
On  the  contrary,  holinsss  is  the  glory,  the  conspicuous  excellence,  of  the  divine 
essence.  Awful  in  praises.  Praises  are  here  put  for  the  praiseworthy  deeds  which 
come  from  him  whose  glorj'^  is  holiness.  In  regard  to  the  holiness  of  these  deeds  he 
is  truly  awful,  because  he  taketh  vengeance  for  transgression  with  as  mucli  exactness 
as  he  giveth  recompense  for  obedience.  His  judgment  on  the  oppressor  is  as  signal 
as  his  mercy  to  the  Qppressed.  Doing  wonders.  His  power  is  equal  to  his  holiness  and 
equity.  The  proud  doer  is  destined  to  give  way  to  his  will,  or  perish  in  the  attempt 
to  resist  it.  Holiness  and  omnipotence  mark  the  administration  of  God,  and  hence 
he  is  awful  in  praises.  In  these  respects  he  is  incomparably  above  the  so-called  gods 
of  the  heathen.  In  the  two  following  verses  we  have  the  judicial  and  merciful  works 
proclaimed  that  entitle  him  to  be  described  as  awful  in  praises.  13.  Thou  hast  guided 
them  in  thy  strength  to  thy  holy  habitation.  The  habitation  of  his  holiness  is  most  simply 
understood  in  a  large  sense  of  the  land  wherein  his  people  are  to  dwell.  He  is  their 
God,  and  will  dwell  with  them,  and  consecrate  the  land  of  their  habitation.  Into  this 
land  they  may  be  fairly  said  to  have  entered  when  they  crossed  the  Eed  Sea,  for  its 


102  THE   SOKG   OF   MOSES. 

bounds  were  to  be  from  the  Eed  Sea  unto  the  sea  of  the  Philistines  (23  :  31).  Hence 
the  statement  "thou  hast  guided  them,"  in  the  perfect  tense,  is  literally  true.  But, 
according  to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  even  that  which  is  purposed  and  determined  in  the 
mind  and  words  of  the  speaker  is  indicated  by  the  perfect  form  of  the  verb  (Gen. 
23 :  11),  much  more  that  which,  in  its  main  substance,  has  been  already  effected. 
Now  the  chief  part  of  their  guidance  into  the  holy  land  was  accomplished  when  they 
were  brought  out  of  the  bondage  and  territory  of  Mizraim.  The  remainder  was  as 
sure  as  if  it  were  already  completed  in  the  promise  and  power  of  God.  This  third 
triplet  celebrates  the  triumph  of  Jehovah.  14,  15.  The  Egyptian  host  is  at  rest  for 
ever  in  the  silence  of  death.  The  poet's  eye,  therefore,  turns  to  the  surviving  nations 
who  might  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  redeemed  people.  The  nations  in  gen- 
eral tremble.  In  particular  the  Philistines,  who  bordered  on  the  one  entrance  into 
the  land  of  holiness,  and  the  Edomites  and  Moabites,  who  lay  on  the  other  route 
by  which  it  might  be  entered,  were  filled  with  alarm.  The  inhabitants  of  Kenaan, 
who  were  doomed  to  extirpation  because  their  iniquity  was  now  full,  melted  away  at 
the  reports  of  Mizraim's  overthrow.  All  this  is  expressed  in  the  high-strung  language 
of  poetic  realism,  because  that  is  conceived  to  have  a  hold  on  existence  which  is  the 
inevitable  and  immediate  consequence  of  things  that  have  already  taken  place. 

16-18.  The  bard  of  emancipated  Israel  now  turns  to  the  future.  The  further  doings 
of  the  Lord  for  his  people  are  sketched  in  a  few  master  touches.  First,  a  sudden  and 
overwhelming  trepidation  unmans  the  adversary,  and  the  people  of  the  Lord  are  un- 
opposed in  their  progress.  This  was  the  natural  result  of  the  divine  interposition, 
and  would  have  been  the  actual  and  uniform  consequence,  but  for  the  unbelief  and 
disobedience  of  the  chosen  people.  17.  Thou  shall  bring  them  arid  plant  them.  This  is 
a  figure  taken  from  a  tree  planted  on  a  hill.  The  tree  is  the  holy  people  (Ps.  1:3); 
the  hill  is  the  land  of  promise,  which  was  not  a  river  valley,  like  Egypt,  but  a  high 
land  lying  between  the  Jordan  and  the  Mediterranean.  To  the  hill  of  Zion  there  may 
be  a  distant  allusion.  The  place  for  thy  dwelling,  is  the  fixed  abode  where  he  will  con- 
stantly dwell.  The  sanctuary.  In  these  three  parallels  we  have  the  climax  of  country, 
home,  and  altar.  18.  The  Lord  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.  In  this  closing  verse  the 
Lord  is  announced  as  perpetual  king.  The  introduction  of  three  dispensations  relat- 
ing to  man  is  clearly  marked  out  in  Scripture.  First,  The  creation  begins  an  economy 
in  which  man  forms  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  until  the  fall  begins  the  king- 
dom of  Satan  on  the  earth.  Then  the  exodus  commences  a  dispensation  in  which  the 
kingdom  of  God  begins  to  stand  out  in  visible  opposition  to  that  of  Satan,  in  the  nar- 
row sphere  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  and  the  land  of  Kenaan.  The  kingdom  thus  rising 
into  visibility  never  again  disappears  from  the  earth.  Lastly,  the  birth,  death,  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  ushers  in  a  dispensation  in  which  the  kingdom  of  God  is  des- 
tined to  penetrate  more  and  more  into  the  usurped  kingdom  of  Satan,  until  the  latter 
be  utterly  destroyed,  and  the  former  be  universally,  restored  on  the  earth.  There  is 
a  hopeful  emphasis  in  the  closing  sentence  of  this  sublime  anthem. 

19.  This  verse  is  a  recapitulation  of  the  auspicious  occasion  on  which  the  above 
hymn  was  composed. 

20,  21.  The  refrain  of  Miriam  and  the  daughters  of  Israel.  It  is  most  probable,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  that  the  women  and  children  were  principally  with  the  flocks  and 
herds,  and  not  with  the  marshalled  host  that  crossed  the  Eed  Sea.  But  a  joyful  re- 
union of  as  many  of  them  as  could  leave  domestic  cares  would  be  sure  to  take  place 
on  this  joyful  occasion.     Miriam,  and  a  few  of  the  females  of  higher  rank,  may  have 


EXODUS  XY.  22-26.  103 

even  accompanied  the  host.  Miriam  is  here  described  as  the  prophetess,  as  one  who 
was  well  known  to  possess  the  gift  of  speaking  to  God  for  men,  or  to  men  for  God,  in 
prose  or  in  song  (Gen.  20  :  7  ;  Num.  12  : 2).  She  is  called  the  sister  of  Aaron,  as  he 
and  she  were  older  than  Moses,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  inferior  to  him  in  point  of 
official  rank.  Ihok  the  timhrel,  the  well-known  instrument  for  the  female  and  the 
dancer.  It  was  composed  of  a  hoop  or  rim  covered  with  skin,  like  a  drum-head.  It 
was  sometimes  provided  with  little  brass  rings  or  beUs  fastened  round  the  rim,  which 
added  a  jingle  to  its  drum-like  sound.  And  with  dances.  Miriam  led  the  way  with 
the  timbrel  in  the  dance,  and  all  the  women  followed.  The  females  danced  in  a  sepa- 
rate choir,  and  the  males  also  by  themselves  (2  Sam.  6  :  14),  The  dance  is  here  used 
for  the  expression  of  a  sacred  joy.  The  song  articulates,  the  dance  gesticulates,  the 
emotions  of  joy  and  congratulation.  And  Mb^iam  answered  them.  She  led  the  refrain, 
as  Moses  seems  to  have  led  the  song  itself.  The  song  begins  thus,  "  I  will  sing  unto 
the  Lord  "  ;  the  refrain  thus,  "  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord."  This  may  have  bee  a  chanted 
after  every  period  of  five  verses,  and  at  the  end  of  the  ode,  as  a  completion  of  the  last 
period.  This  is  much  more  probable  than  the  introduction  of  the  refrain  at  the  end 
of  every  verse,  especially  as  the  verses  are  of  very  unequal  length, 

22-26.  The  journej'  from  the  Eed  Sea  to  Elim.  The  wilderness  of  Shur  (Gen.  16  :  7). 
Part  of  this  wilderness  takes  its  name  from  Etham,  which  was  on  its  border  (13  :  20  ; 
Num.  33  :  8).  They  went  three  days.  If  they  paused  at  Sukkoth  on  the  first  day  after 
the  passover  night,  encamped  at  Etham  on  the  second,  and  at  Hahiroth  on  the  third, 
crossed  the  Eed  Sea  on  the  night  of  that  day,  and  then  advanced  three  days  into  the 
wilderness,  they  would  arrive  at  Marah  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread.  In  the  interval  of  two  miles  between  the  shore  and  Ayun  Musa  (the  wells  of 
Moses),  they  celebrated  their  deliverance  by  chanting  the  song  of  Moses.  The  Ayun 
Musa  are  seven  in  number,  according  to  Robinson,  with  many  lesser  springs  around. 
After  having  refreshed  themselves  here  they  may  have  proceeded  some  waj^  toward 
Marah,  and  so  performed  their  first  day's  journey.  The  distance  from  Ayun  Musa  to 
Ain  Hawarah,  which  is  usually  identified  with  Marah,  is  sixteen  and  one  half  hours, 
or  about  forty  miles.  The  route  lies  between  the  Gulf  of  Suez  and  the  range  of  Jebel 
or  Rahah,  Ain  Hawarah  is  a  fountain  of  bitter  water  about  three  feet  deep,  contained 
in  a  basin  of  ten  feet  in  diameter,  and  six  feet  in  depth.  The  palm  and  the  thorny 
ghurkud  are  found  around  it.  It  still  merits  the  title  of  Marah,  as  its  waters  are  bit- 
ter. 24.  And  the  people  murmured  against  Moses.  We  now  hear  the  first  murmur  aris- 
ing from  the  redeemed  people.  The  marshalled  host  advancing  as  a  regular  body  felt 
the  want  of  water  much  more  severely  than  if  they  had  been  scattered  over  the  coun- 
try like  their  wives  and  children.  They  had  been  wont  to  enjoy  ample  supplies  of 
water  in  Egj^pt,  and  to  search  not  in  vain  for  it  even  in  the  wilderness,  when  divided 
into  families  and  small  parties.  For  the  wilderness  was  not  unfamiliar  to  them  as 
nomads  or  roving  shepherds,  though  the  present  route  may  not  have  teen  trodden 
by  many  of  them  before.  The  wilderness,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  is  land  affording  a 
scanty  pasture,  but  not  fit  for  tillage  (Gen.  21  :  14).  With  the  exception  of  the  Debbet 
er-Ramleh  (plain  of  sand)  and  a  narrow  strip  along  the  Mediterranean,  the  wilderness 
of  the  peninsula  is  not  a  sandy  but  a  gravelly  soil,  producing  a  sparse  vegetation  wher- 
ever there  is  any  moisture.  Bub  the  assembled  multitude  are  grievously  distressed 
by  the  want  of  water,  and  do  not  refrain  from  expressing  their  dissatisfaction.  Moses, 
however,  having  travelled  this  way  before,  must  have  been  aware  that  water  was  near. 
Accordingly,  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth  day,  or  early  on  the  seventh,  they  arrived  at 


104  THE    JOUEJS^EY    OF    ELIM. 

Marah.  A  new  trial  of  their  patience  is  presented  by  the  bitterness  of  the  water, 
which  was  the  more  disagreeable  to  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  the  sweet 
waters  of  the  Nile.  To  obviate  this  inconvenience  the  Lord  pointed  out  a  wood  to 
Moses  which  sweetened  the  waters.  Burckhardt  suggests  that  the  berries  of  the 
ghurkud  might  have  produced  this  effect.  But  this  fruit  ripens  in  June,  two  months 
later  than  the  time  when  the  people  of  Israel  arrived  at  Marah  ;  and  this  was  a  tree 
or  species  of  wood,  not  a  berry.  The  effect  was  probably  not  natural,  but  miraculous, 
and  the  kind  of  wood  is  unknown.  There  he  made  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance.  If 
this  was  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  feast  of  unleavetied  bread,  and  therefore  a  Sabbath 
of  holy  convocation,  in  which,  however,  extraordinary  works  of  necessity  and  mercy 
had  to  be  done,  we  can  see  how  opportune  was  the  time  for  making  a  statute  and  an 
ordinance.  The  slaying  of  the  passover  was  a  solemn  entering  into  covenant  with  the 
Lord,  and  the  last  day  of  the  feast  was  the  completion  of  this  act.  They  had  now  also 
gone  three  days  into  the  wilderness,  and  therefore  arrived  at  the  place  and  time  for 
performing  the  proposed  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  their  God,  as  he  should  command 
them  (8  :  27).  A  statute  (ppi)  is  a  form  of  words  engraven  on  a  hard  substance,  such 
as  stone,  and  therefore  a  fixed  edict  or  decree,  binding  the  people  to  follow  the  Lord. 
An  ordinance  (^^9"^;^)  is  a  judicial  sentence  or  authoritative  injunction,  affirming  the 
duty  of  the  joeople,  and  accompanied  with  an  intimation  of  the  good  and  evil  conse- 
quences of  obedience  and  disobedience.  The  solemn  consent  of  the  people  to  this 
ordinance  was  given  on  this  appropriate  occasion.  A  similar  transaction  is  recorded 
when  Joshua  renewed  the  covenant  with  the  people  (Josh.  24  :  25).  The  substance 
of  the  statute  and  the  ordinance  is  evidently  contained  in  the  following  verse.  The 
general  obligation  only  to  obey  the  Lord  in  all  things  is  here  tendered  and  accepted. 
The  special  terms  of  the  divine  law  are  to  be  communicated  on  a  future  occasion. 
And  there  he  proved  them.  The  want  of  water  for  three  days,  and  the  bitterness  of  the 
water  when  at  length  found,  were  the  touchstone  to  test  their  hearts,  to  discover  what 
qualities  or  dispositions  were  within,  to  try  whether  they  had  the  beginning  of  faith 
and  patience.  26.  If  thou  loilt  diligently  hearken.  Here  the  condition  of  perfect  obedi- 
ence to  the  occasional,  as  well  as  to  the  stated,  commands  of  God,  is  explicitly  laid 
down.  No  disease.  The  reward  of  obedience  is  expressly  announced,  and  the  con- 
sequence of  disobedience  not  obscurely  intimated.  The  very  blessings  of  the  Egyp- 
tians were  turned  into  curses  on  account  of  their  disobedience.  The  sweet  waters  of 
the  Nile  were  changed  into  blood.  On  the  other  hand  the  disadvantages  the  Israelites 
might  meet  with  on  the  way  would  be  converted  into  blessings  if  they  were  obedient 
to  the  voice  of  the  Lord.  The  bitter  waters  of  Marah  are  made  sweet.  This  single 
instance  indicated  the  rule  of  all  God's  future  dealings,  and  so  furnished  the  test  by 
which  their  character  was  to  be  proved.  I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee.  He  had  pre- 
served them  from  the  diseases  of  Egypt,  the  death  of  the  first-born,  and  the  destruc- 
tion which  overtook  the  Egyptians.  So  would  he  be  their  deliverer  in  every  trouble 
which  should  befall  them.  Thus  Marah,  with  its  bitter  waters,  sweetened  even  the 
commencement  of  that  testing  process  which  this  people  had  to  undergo  in  the 
wilderness. 

27.  Elim.  This  is  identified  with  "Wady  Ghurundel,  which  is  two  hours  or  a  few 
miles  from  Marah.  The  twelve  springs  and  seventy  palms  made  it  a  most  delightful 
halting-place  for  the  thirsting  host.  "  Wady  Ghurundel  is  fringed  with  trees  and 
shrubs,  forming  a  charming  oasis.  Here  are  the  stunted  palms,  with  their  hairy 
trunks  and  dishevelled  branches  ;  here,  too,  are  the  feathery  tamarisks,  with  gnarled 


EXODUS   XVI.  105 

boughs  ;  and  here  is  the  acacia,  with  its  gray  foliage  and  bright  blossoms,  tangled  by- 
its  desert  growth  into  a  thicket' '  (Porter,  in  Murray' s  Hand-book  of  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine). This  refreshing  valley  is  but  a  step  from  Marah,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the 
first  resting-place  of  the  sons  of  Israel  after  their  departure  from  Egypt.  Here,  accord- 
ingly, they  remained  for  the  space  of  three  weeks  (16  : 1),  during  which  they  had 
leisure  to  accommodate  themselves  in  some  measure  to  desert  life,  to  the  habits  of 
freedom  and  independence,  and,  above  all,  to  the  solemnities  of  a  people  reconciled 
to  God  and  resolved  to  walk  in  newness  of  life.  At  this  point,  therefore,  the  chapter 
appropriately  closes, 


X.     JOURNEY   FROM  ELIM   TO    SINAI.— Ex.  16-18. 

CHAP.    XVI. — QUAILS    AND    MANNA. 

1.  ^"iQ  I.  Sin,  clay  (Ges.).  Pelusium  or  Tine  (mud-town  ?).  II.  Sin,  hush,  thorn. 
The  wilderness  described  in  the  present  passage. 

"ijiC?  Sinai,  thorny,  scraggy  (Meyer),  the  mountain  on  which  the  law  was  pro- 
claimed. This  name  is  apparently  connected  with  the  preceding.  It  is  probable 
that  both  belong  to  the  same  root  with  piJC  ^  species  of  thorn  (3  :  2). 

13.  i'7^  quail,  opTvyonrj-pa  (Sept.),  mother  of  quails,  rail  or  quail  king.  Not 
locusts,  as  Patrick  supposes,  since  they  are  nowhere  else  called  by  this  name  ;  nor 
the  Kata  of  the  Arabians,  a  kind  of  partridge  which  abounds  in  Arabia  and  Syria. 

14.  r^cni^^^^  (Ges.).  run,  cast,  freeze  (Meyer). 

15.  1^3  manna;  r.  •jj^  divide,  separate.  Hence  it  means  the  secretion,  or  sweet 
gum  exuding  in  shining  drops  on  the  twigs  and  branches  of  the  turfa  or  tamarisk 
when  punctured,  it  is  supposed,  by  the  coccus  manniparus.  This  is  now  called 
7}ian  assama,  the  gift  of  heaven,  by  the  Arabs,  according  to  the  common  habit  of 
ascribing  a  later  and  more  familiar  meaning  to  the  w^ord  than  that  which  it  origi- 
nally possessed.  It  falls  on  the  leaves,  twigs,  or  stones  beneath,  and  has  to  be 
gathered  before  it  is  melted  by  the  sun.  It  is  then  cleansed,  boiled,  strained,  and 
put  into  leathern  bottles, and  keeps  for  a  long  time.  This  manna  is  not  peculiar 
to  Arabia  nor  to  the  tamarisk  ;  is  produced  in  small  quantities  in  wet  seasons,  and 
nearly  disappears  in  dry  ones  ;  is  gathered  in  the  month  of  June,  and  is  used  only 
as  a  condiment  with  the  unleavened  bread  or  pottage  of  the  country. 

23.  J^'j^^lL'  ^'^^^5  cessation  from  lalor.  The  word  is  found  only  in  Exodus  and 
Leviticus,  and  shows  no  change  of  vowel.  Here  only  is  it  before  n^ti'.  It  is  also 
without  the  article,  simply  because  it  is  either  the  predicate  or  in  the  construct 
state.  Hence  there  is  no  ground  for  the  supposition  that  its  indefinite  form 
marks  the  introduction  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  new  thing  hitherto  unknown. 

31.  .n^)^  Kopcov  (Sept.),  coriander.  Ar/v-noi  oxi-ov,  'Aij)poi  yo'u\  quotes  Celsius  from 
the  annotator  of  Dioscorides,  when  speaking  of  this  plant.  ToiS  is  evidently  the 
Heb,  "i^.  Coriandrum  sativum  is  an  umbelliferous  plant,  the  leaves  of  which  are 
used  in  soups  and  salads.  Its  seeds  are  globular,  about  the  size  of  a  pepper-corn, 
and  of  a  grayish  color.     They  form  an  agreeable  spice,  employed  by  confection- 


106  QUAILS   AlsD   MAi^isTA. 

ers,  druggists,  and  distillers.  This  plant  is  common  in  Egypt  and  other  parts  of 
Africa,  Arabia,  Persia,  India,  and  the  south  of  Europe,  and  is  cultivated  in  some 
parts  of  England. 

36.  "^j^y  sJieaf  of  corn.  In  the  present  chapter  alone,  omer,  a  dish  or  other  vessel 
containing  probably  the  grain  obtained  from  the  sheaf,  and  therefore  always 
nearly  of  the  same  size,  and  so  fitted  to  be  a  rough  measure.  It  is  to  be  distin- 
guished from  the  homer  (-^.j^n)  which  contained  ten  ephahs,  and  therefore  one 
hundred  omers. 

XVI.  1.  And  aU  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel  set  out  from  Elim,  and  came 
unto  the  wilderness  of  Sin,  which  is  between  Elim  and  Sinai,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of 
the  second  month  of  their  departure  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim.  2.  And  all  the 
assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel  murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  wilderness. 
3.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  said  unto  them,  AVould  that  we  had  died  by  the  hand  of 
the  LoKD  in  the  land  of  Mizraim,  when  we  sat  by  the  fleshpot,  when  we  ate  bread  to 
the  full  I  For  ye  have  brought  us  forth  into  this  wilderness  to  slay  all  this  congrega- 
tion with  hunger.  §  18. 

4.  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  Moses,  Behold,  I  will  rain  for  you  bread  from  heaven, 
and  the  people  shall  go  out  and  gather  a  certain  rate  every  day,  that  I  may  prove  them 
whether  they  will  walk  in  my  law  or  not.  5.  And  it  shall  be  on  the  sixth  day  that 
they  shall  prepare  that  which  they  bring  in,  and  it  shall  be  twice  as  much  as  they 
gather  daily.  6.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  said  unto  all  the  sons  of  Israel,  At  even, 
then  shall  ye  know  that  the  Lokd  hath  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim. 
7.  And  in  the  morning,  then  ye  shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Loed,  since  he  lieareth  your 
murmurings  against  the  Lord  :  and  what  are  we  that  ye  murmur  against  us  ?  8.  And 
Moses  said.  When  the  Lord  giveth  you  in  the  evening  flesh  to  eat,  and  bread  in  the 
morning  to  the  full,  since  the  Lord  heareth  your  murmurings  which  ye  murmur 
against  him,  Avhat  then  are  we  ?  Your  murmurings  are  not  against  us,  but  against 
the  Lord.  9.  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  Say  unto  all  the  assembl}^  of  the  sens  of 
Israel,  Draw  near  before  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  heard  your  murumurings.  10.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  when  Aaron  spake  unto  all  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  that  they 
turned  toward  the  wilderness  ;  and  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  in  the 
cloud.  «^  26. 

11.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  12.  I  have  heard  the  murmurings  of  the 
sons  of  Israel  :  speak  unto  them,  saying,  Between  the  evenings  ye  shall  eat  flesh,  and 
in  the  morning  ye  shall  be  filled  with  bread  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God. 

13.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  even  that  quails  came  up,  and  covered  the  camp  ;  and  in 
the  morning  the  dew  lay  round  about  the  camp.  14.  And  the  dew  that  lay  went  up  ; 
and  behold  upon  the  face  of  the  wilderness  something  fine  and  crisp,  fine  as  the  rime 
on  the  ground.  15.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  saw  it,  and  said  one  to  another.  It  is 
manna.  For  they  wist  not  what  it  was.  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  it  is  the  bread 
which  the  Lord  hath  given  you  to  eat.  16.  This  the  thing  which  the  Lord  hath  com- 
manded ;  Gather  of  it  every  man  according  to  his  eating,  an  omer  to  the  poll  for  the 
number  of  your  persons  ;  take  ye  every  man  for  them  that  are  in  his  tent.  17.  And 
the  sons  of  Israel  did  so,  and  they  gathered,  some  more,  some  less.  18.  And  they 
meted  it  v/ith  the  omer  ;  and  he  that  gathered  much  had  nothing  over,  and,  he  that 
gathered  little  had  no  lack  :  they  gathered  every  man  according  to  his  eating.  19.  And 
Moses  said  unto  them.  Let  no  man  leave  of  it  till  the  morning.  20.  And  they  heark- 
ened not  unto  Moses  ;  and  some  left  of  it  till  the  morning,  and  it  bred  worms  and 
stank  :  and  Moses  was  wrath  with  them.  21.  And  they  gathered  it  every  morning, 
every  man  according  to  his  eating  :  and  when  the  sun  waxsd  hot  it  melted. 

22.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  sixth  day  that  they  gathered  twice  as  much  bread, 
two  omers  for  each  one,  and  all  the  rulers  of  the  assembly  came  and  told  Moses.  23. 
And  he  said  unto  them,  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath  spoken.  To-morrow  is  the 
rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord  :  bake  that  which  ye  will  bake,  and  seethe  that 
which  ye  will  seethe,  and  all  that  remaineth  over  lay  up  for  you  to  be  kept  until  the 
morning.     24.  And  they  laid  it  up  till  the  morning,   as  Moses  bade  ;  and  it   did  not 


EXODUS  XVI.   1-3.  107 

stink,  neither  vras  there  any  worm  therein.  25.  And  Moses  said,  Eat  it  to-day,  for 
to-day  is  the  Sabbath  unto  the  Loed  :  to-day  ye  shall  not  find  it  in  the  field.  26.  Six 
days  ye  shall  gather  it  ;  and  on  the  seventh  day,  the  Sabbath,  on  it  there  shall  be  none, 
27,  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  seventh  day,  that  some  of  the  people  went  out  to  gather, 
and  they  found  none.  §  19. 

28.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  How  long  refuse  ye  to  keep  my  commandments 
and  my  laws  ?  29.  See  ye  that  the  Loed  hath  given  you  the  Sabbath  ;  therefore  he 
giveth  you  on  the  sixth  day  the  bread  of  two  days  :  abide  ye  every  man  in  his  place  ; 
let  no  man  come  out  of  his  place  on  the  seventh  day.  30.  And  the  people  rested  on 
the  seventh  day.  31.  And  the  house  of  Israel  called  the  name  thereof  manna  :  and  it 
was  like  coriander  seed,  white  ;  and  the  taste  of  it  was  like  a  cake  made  with  honey. 
32.  And  Moses  said.  This  is  the  thing  which  the  Loed  hath  commanded,  Fill  an  omer 
of  it  to  be  kept  for  your  generations,  that  they  m&y  see  the  bread  wherewith  I  fed  you 
in  the  wilderness,  when  I  brought  you  forth  from  the  land  of  Mizraim.  33.  And 
Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  Take  a  pot,  and  put  therein  an  omer  full  of  manna,  and  lay  it 
up  before  the  Loed  to  be  kept  for  your  generations.  34.  As  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses,,  so  Aaron  laid  it  up  before  the  testimony  to  be  kept.  35.  And  the  sons  of  Israel 
ate  manna  forty  years,  until  they  came  to  a  land  inhabited  ;  they  ate  manna  until  they 
came  to  the  border  of  the  land  of  Kenaan,  36.  And  the  omer  was'the  tenth  part  of 
the  ephah. 

The  subsection  containing  this  chapter  and  the  following  two  records  the  important 
particulars  of  the  journey  from  Elim  to  Sinai.  In  Numbers  33  :  10-15  are  enumerated 
five  stations  between  these  points,  of  which  only  the  second,  the  "Wilderness  of  Sin, 
and  the  last,  Kephidim,  are  mentioned  here.  The  present  object  of  the  historian  is 
to  notice  the  provision,  protection,  and  government  of  the  people  in  their  wanderings. 
They  were  provided  with  quails,  manna,  and  water  from  the  rock  ;  they  were  pro- 
tected from  the  enemy  in  the  victory  they  gained  over  Amalek  ;  and  they  were  gov- 
erned by  Moses,  with  the  advice  of  Jethro,  his  father-in-law.  The  mixture  of  evil  with 
good  whyjh  is  displayed  in  the  conduct  of  the  people,  is  what  might  be  expected  from 
a  tribe  of  fallen  men,  long  corrupted  by  the  habits  of  bondage,  under  a  nation  igno- 
rant of  the  God,  or  the  law  of  truth,  when  they  are  but  recently  brought  under  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit  of  truth,  freedom,  and  holiness. 

1-3.  The  second  ground  of  complaint  among  the  multitude  is  want  of  food.  Any 
supplies  they  may  have  brought  from  Egypt  were  how  exhausted.  All  the  assembly 
of  the  sons  of  Israel.  The  difficulties  of  procuring  water  and  food  were  enormously 
increased  to  a  collected  host.  The  wives  and  children  who  were  scattered  over  the 
country,  as  the  Bedawin  or  wanderers  of  the  desert,  were  able  to  make  some  shift  for 
themselves,  from  the  smallness  of  their  parties  and  their  acquaintance  with  a  desert 
life.  But  the  marshalled  multitude  in  a  desert,  without  a  well-arranged  commissariat, 
could  only  subsist  by  supernatural  means.  And  came  into  the  wilderness  of  Sin. 
From  Num.  30  :  10  it  appears  that  when  they  left  Elim  their  first  encampment  was  by 
the  Bed  Sea.  Proceeding  at  present  from  Wady  Ghurundel,  in  two  and  a  quarter 
hours,  we  come  upon  Wady  Useit,  or  Waseit,  in  which  are  a  few  brackish  springs, 
with  groves  of  palms  and  tamarisks.  In  four  hours  more  we  arrive  at  the  point  where 
Wady  Shubeikeh  and  Wady  Humr  unite  to  form  Wady  Taiyibeh.  Thence  to  the 
plain  on  the  shore  of  the  Bed  Sea  is  a  distance  of  two  hours.  This  is  probably  the 
place  of  encampment  by  the  Bed  Sea,  where  the  people  might  have  a  supply  of 
water,  and  obtain  a  last  view  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  at  the  same  time  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  mountain  peaks  toward  which  they  were  journeying.  Over  the  head- 
land of  Zelima,  two  hours  farther,  lies  the  plain  Murkhah,  where  there  is  also  a  foun- 
tain.    We  may  suppose  the  main  body  of  the  six  hundred  thousand  sons  of  Israelites 


108  THE    ROUTE   TO    SI>^AI. 

spreading  themselves  over  all  the  interval  between  Taiyibeh  and  Murkhah  by  the  Ked 
Sea.  And  went  unto  the  Wilderness  of  Sin.  The  next  station  mentioned  in  Num.  33  :  11 
is  in  the  Wilderness  of  Sin.  This  region  is  said  to  be  between  Elim  and  Sinai.  It  is 
more  narrowly  limited  by  the  station  at  the  sea  and  Kephidim  (17  : 1).  And  though 
the  station  at  the  entrance  into  this  wilderness  is  the  only  one  mentioned  here,  yet 
we  know  from  Num.  33  :  12-14  that  two  other  stations,  Dophkali  and  Alush,  were 
occupied  in  it.  Among  the  three  stations  in  this  extensive  range  of  desert  at  least  a 
week  seems  to  have  been  spent.  The  tradition  that  they  arrived  here  on  a  Sabbath 
coincides  well  with  the  details  of  the  narrative.  Yet  the  site  of  the  present  station 
is  by  no  means  determined.  From  the  Red  Sea  at  Taiyibeh  three  routes  to  Sinai  are 
possible  :  one  southern,  by  the  barren  plain  el-Kaa,  lying  along  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  and 
up  the  Wady  Hibran  ;  another  intermediate,  by  the  Wadys  Shellal,  Mukatteb,  Feiran, 
and  Sheikh  ;  and  a  third  north  of  both,  by  the  Wady  Humr,  the  Debbet  er-Ramleh, 
and  the  Wady  Sheikh.  The  intervening  stations  are  the  Wilderness  of  Sin,  Dophkah, 
Alush,  and  Eephidim,  all  of  which  being  unknown  fail  to  give  us  any  aid  in  deter- 
mining the  route  actually  pursued.  The  first  route,  however,  extending  to  nearly  one 
hundred  miles,  while  the  others  are  about  eighty  miles,  may  be  rejected  as  too  long 
for  five  days'  march.  If  the  Wilderness  of  Sin  be  the  Plain  of  el-Kaa,  the  route  must 
have  been  through  the  Wadys  Mukatteb  and  Feiran,  as  this  alone  of  the  remaining 
two  touched  on  that  plain.  If  it  be  the  Debbet  er-Ramleh,  the  route  must  have  been 
the  most  northern  of  the  three.  Wady  esh-Sheikh  forms  the  closing  part  of  both 
these  routes.  The  northern  one  seems  the  most  open  for  a  large  body  of  men.  The 
intermediate  one  is  that  preferred  by  most  scholars.  It  merely  touches  upon  el-Kaa 
at  Ain  el-Murkhah.  Its  main  attractions  lie  in  the  Wady  Mukatteb  and  Wady  Feiran. 
The  former,  the  written  valley,  is  remarkable  for  the  number  of  its  rude  sculptures, 
consisting  of  inscriptions  in  the  Nabathaean,  Greek,  and  Latin  characters,  and  figures 
of  men,  animals,  and  some  other  objects,  on  the  flat  surfaces  of  the  freestone  rocks  of 
which  the  valley  is  composed.  But  these,  though  noticed  by  Cosmas  as  early  as  535 
A.c,  are  not  yet  proved  to  have  any  connection  with  the  Israelites,  and  moreover  are 
not  confined  to  the  Wady  Mukatteb.  Wady  Feiran  contains  the  ruins  of  Feiran,  the 
Faran  of  early  Christian  times,  the  resort  of  pilgrims,  and  the  see  of  a  bishop  as  early 
as  the  fourth  century.  Hence  many  have  been  disposed  to  find  here  the  Paran  of 
Scripture,  and  thus  establish  at  least  one  identification  of  names  in  this  region.  But 
(1)  the  narrative  contains  no  mention  of  Paran  ;  (2)  the  people  did  not  reach  the 
wilderness  of  Paran  till  they  had  travelled  at  least  five  days'  journey  in  a  northerly 
direction  from  Sinai  (Num.  10  :  12,  33  ;  11  : 3,  35  ;  12  :  16)  ;  and  (3)  the  two  occur- 
rences of  Mount  Paran  (Deut.  33  : 2  ;  Hab.  3  : 3)  connect  it  with  Sinai  not  more 
closely  than  Seir  and  Teman,  and  therefore  afford  a  very  precarious  ground  for 
identification.  These  two  passages,  however,  may  have  led  to  a  patristic  identifica- 
tion of  Mount  Paran  with  Serbal,  the  lofty  five-peaked  mountain  south  of  Wady 
Feiran.  But  even  if  this  be  Paran,  the  omission  of  so  remarkable  a  name  in  the 
narrative,  both  here  and  in  Num.  30,  is  strongly  against  the  hypothesis  that  Israel 
travelled  by  this  route.  As  there  is  nothing  in  the  text  demanding  this  middle  route, 
so  there  are  some  considerations  that  seem  not  unfavorable  to  the  one  more  to  the 
north.  (1.)  There  is  but  one  station  on  the  Red  Sea.  If  the  line  of  march  had  lain 
in  el-Kaa,  there  would  have  been  more  than  one  on  the  shore.  (2.)  The  Wilderness 
of  Sin  is  said  to  be  between  Elim  and  Sinai  ;  which  agrees  very  well  with  Debbet  er- 
Eamleh,  but  can  only  be  applied  in  a  very  loose  sense  to  el-Kaa.     (3.)  The  marching 


EXODUS   XYI.    1-3.  109 

host  would  be  kept  as  near  the  \\^andering  families  and  flocks  as  possible.  This  is 
favorable  to  the  line  farthest  north,  and  decidedly  against  that  by  el-Kaa.  For  the 
■wanderers  would  go  as  little  toward  the  south  as  possible,  seeing  they  were  eventually 
to  turn  to  the  north.  They  would  linger  about  the  wadys,  where  water  and  fodder 
were  accessible.  We  can  imagine  some  of  them  in  the  Wadys  Mukatteb  and  Feiran, 
and  still  more  in  the  Wady  Wutah,  and  along  the  slopes  of  Jebel  et-Tih,  north  of  the 
Debbet  er-Kamleh.  It  would  be  very  desirable  that  the  collective  body  that  formed 
the  centre  of  the  horde  should  be  somewhere  between  the  wandering  parties  of 
women  and  young  people,  and  therefore  in  the  south  border  of  Debbet  er-Eamleh. 
(4.)  The  Wilderness  of  Sin  would  then  be  the  Debbet  er-Kamleh,  or  "  Sandy  Plain," 
the  first  part  of  which,  the  Debbet  en-Nusb,  would  be  reached  in  one  day's  march 
from  Wady  Taiyibeh,  and  might  be  left  in  another  march  by  penetrating  into  the 
system  of  wadys  that  lie  on  its  south  side.  (5.)  The  stations  Dophkah  and  Alush, 
which  possibly  correspond  with  Wadys  Mureikhy  and  Akhdar,  present  no  notable 
feature  or  incident,  and  are  therefore  omitted  in  the  present  narrative,  a  circumstance 
not  so  likely  in  Wadys  Mukatteb  and  Feiran.  (6. )  The  route  by  Debbet  er-Eamleh 
is  the  more  open  and  easy  for  a  large  body  of  men.  There  are  some  very  difficult 
passes  in  the  other  route,  which  render  it  passable  only  for  small  companies  at  a 
time,  and,  therefore,  insuperable  for  six  hundred  thousand  men  in  five  days'  march. 
For  all  these  reasons  we  must  reject  the  route  by  el-Kaa,  unless  we  are  prepared  to 
take  Jebel  Um-Shaumer,  the  most  southern  peak  of  the  mountain  group,  for  Sinai. 
And  for  some  of  them,  chiefly  (2)  and  (5),  we  are  strongly  inclined  to  prefer  the 
northern  route,  as  the  most  probable.  We  are  the  more  contented  to  rest  in  this 
conclusion  when  we  imagine  the  Wadys  Mukatteb  and  Feiran,  and  all  others  lying 
either  south  or  north  of  Debbet  er-Kamleh,  abundantly  peopled  with  the  women  and 
young  people  under  twenty  years  of  age,  who  are  disannexed  from  the  central  host. 
It  is  extremely  desirable  that  these,  who  are  nearly  double  the  number  of  the  full- 
grown  men,  should  have  as  much  scope  as  possible  in  the  environs  of  the  main  body, 
for  the  sustenance  of  themselves,  and  their  flocks  and  herds.  We  do  not  feel  at  lib- 
erty to  confine  them  even  to  the  south  of  Jebel  et-Tih,  the  great  cretaceous  range, 
running  in  an  east-south-eastern  direction,  and  separating  et-Tih,  or  the  wilderness 
of  Paran,  from  the  mountainous  region  of  the  south.  For  these  roaming  companies 
could  only  in  a  very  limited  degree  partake  of  the  miraculous  supplies,  especially  of 
water,  afforded  to  the  congregated  host,  and  must  therefore  have  an  ample  range  for 
the  water  and  herbage  that  will  meet  the  most  pressing  wants  of  their  numerous  cattle. 
Assuming,  then,  that  Debbet  er-Ramleh  is  the  Wilderness  of  Sin,  we  ascend  Wady 
Humr,  which,  according  to  Kobinson,  is  broad,  and  opens  out  into  a  large  plain, 
with  another  broad  wady  coming  into  it  from  the  east.  The  plain  is  contracted  by 
Sarbut  el-Jemel  into  a  wady,  where  the  limestone  gives  place  to  the  sandstone.  A 
broad  belt  of  sandstone  runs  between  the  limestone  of  Jebel  et-Tih,  and  the  granite 
of  the  Jebel  et-Tur,  to  which  Sinai  belongs.  After  passing  this  wady,  which  contains 
some  specimens  of  the  rock  sculptures,  the  road  again  emerges  on  a  broad  plain 
sprinkled  with  herbage.  Somewhere  about  the  entrance  of  Wady  en-Nusb,  in  which 
is  a  fine  spring  not  far  from  the  route,  we  may  suppose  the  host  to  have  encamped  in 
the  Wilderness  of  Sin.  On  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  second  month  of  their  departure,  that  is, 
of  the  year  of  their  departure.  A  full  month,  therefore,  after  they  left  Kameses,  they 
reached  the  Wilderness  of  Sin,  with  resources  completely  exhausted. 
2,  3.  All  the  assembly.     This  refers,  we  conceive,  to  the  six  hundred  thousand  men  of 


110  '  THE    PROMISE    OF   BREAD. 

the  marshalled  host.  Murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron.  The  want  of  food  now 
began  to  be  sharply  felt.  They  saw  nothing  but  starvation  before  them,  and  they 
regarded  Moses  and  Aaron  as  the  authors  of  their  present  strait. 

4-10.  He  that  destroyed  the  harvest  of  Egypt  by  the  hail  and  the  locust  now  engages 
to  rain  bread  for  them  from  heaven.  Gather  a  certain  rate  every  day.  This  was  to  be 
daily  bread.  That  1  may  prove  them.  As  the  abundance  of  Egypt  vanished  away  be- 
fore the  indignation  of  the  Lord,  so  the  very  barrenness  of  the  wilderness  gave  way  to 
the  bountiful  hand  of  the  Lord,  supplying  their  daily  wants.  In  all  this  he  was  con- 
tinuing the  process  of  their  probation.  Their  patience,  faith,  dependence,  and 
thankfulness  of  spirit  were  constantly  put  to  the  test  in  their  present  experience. 
5.  On  the  sixth  day  double  allowance  shall  be  gathered.  This  is  one  element  in  the 
miraculous  nature  of  the  present  supply.  They  shall  prepare,  measure,  pound,  or 
grind  the  whole  quantity  gathered  (Num.  11  : 8).  It  may  also  extend  to  the  cooking 
(5  :  23).  6,  7.  Moses  and  Aaron  now  communicate  the  benignant  design  of  the  Lord 
to  the  people.  Then  shall  ye  knoio.  By  experience  of  his  wonder-working  power  they 
would  have  a  new  proof  that  he  had  brought  them  out  of  Egypt.  They  seemed  to 
forget  his  wonders  in  Egypt,  when  they  ascribed  their  present  position  to  Moses  and 
Aaron.  Then  ye  shall  see  the  glory  of  the  lord.  This  is  the  parallel  of  the  preceding 
sentence.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  is  seen  when  his  hand  is  put  forth  for  the  protection 
of  his  people  by  the  discomfiture  of  their  enemies,  and  for  their  preservation  by 
the  preternatural  bestowment  of  the  means  of  life.  Since  he  heareth  your  murmurings. 
In  his  long-suffering  mercy  he  will  give  another  proof  of  his  presence  and  love,  that 
his  people  may  at  length  lay  aside  their  impatience  and  unbelief,  and  feel  that  their 
murmuring  is  really  against  the  Lord,  and  not  against  the  mere  executors  of  his  will. 
8.  Moses  alone  now  explains  to  the  people  what  the  Lord  is  about  to  do.  9.  He  then 
directs  Aaron  to  summon  the  people  before  the  Lord,  that  is,  to  draw  near  to  the 
place  where  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  was.  10.  The  people  at  the  word  of  Aaron 
turned  toward  the  wilderness.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  in  the  cloud.  Such  a 
dazzling  brightness  burst  through  the  cloud  as  manifested  the  immediate  presence  of 
the  Lord. 

11,  12.  The  Lord,  having  now  manifested  his  glorious  presence  in  the  cloud  to  the 
beholding  people,  charges  Moses  with  a  message  to  the  people,  promising  relief  to 
their  hunger.     Between  the  evenings,  from  the  beginning  of  the  evening  before  sunset 

'  to  the  end  of  twilight  (see  on  Gen.  1  : 4).  Ye  shall  know  that  1  am  Jehovah  your  God. 
The  instruction  of  his  people  is  a  primary  object  with  God.  He  has  gifted  them  with 
reason,  and  he  expects  to  be  served  with  the  understanding  and  the  will.  This  can 
be  done  only  so  far  as  they  know  him  to  be  God,  the  Eternal  and  Almighty,  to  be 
Jehovah,  the  Creator  and  Upholder  of  all  things,  and  to  be  their  God,  to  whom  they 
are  reconciled  through  his.  pardoning,  redeeming,  and  quickening  mercy.  It  is  man- 
ifest that  every  event  in  his  gracious  dealings  with  them  is  a  step  in  the  process  of 

'  their  spiritual  training.  This  alone  will  explain  the  various  preparatory  steps  in  this 
miraculous  interposition.  He  first  allows  the  people  to  feel  their  need  (1:3);  then 
he  intimates  his  intention  to  Moses  ;  then  Moses  and  Aaron  admonish  the  people  ; 
then  Moses  announces  the  promise  of  food  ;  then  Moses  directs  Aaron  to  call  the 
people  before  the  Lord  ;  then  the  Lord,  manifesting  his  presence,  recapitulates  his 
message  to  Moses,  and  lastly  performs  his  promise. 

13-21.  The  performance  of  the  promise  is  now  recorded.  Quails,  literally  "  the 
quail"  in  a  collective  sense,  a  well-known  species  of  migrating  bird,  that  passes  the 


EXODUS    XVI.    13-21.  Ill 

winter  in  inner  Africa  and  the  summer  in  the  northern  regions.  These  are  brought 
in  great  numbers  to  the  camp  of  Israel,  when,  being  wearied  with  their  long  flight, 
they  are  easily  taken  and  killed.  The  miracle  consisted  in  bringing  the  quails  at  the 
stated  time  to  the  required  place,  and  in  sufficient  numbers  for  the  supply  of  a  large 
host,  and  in  announcing  beforehand  their  arrival. 

Came  up.  Came  up  on  the  wing,  and  therefore  made  their  appearance  from  a 
lower  ground  in  the  air.  And  filled  the  camp,  alighted  on  the  area  occupied  by  the 
wide-spread  host.  The  deio  lay.  Literally,  there  was  a  lying  or  layer  of  dew,  a  de- 
posit on  the  surface  from  the  surrounding  atmosphere.  We  say  a  fall  of  dew.  The 
former  is  the  more  exact  figure. 

14,  15.  The  dew  that  lay  icent  up.  A  natural  figure  for  the  evaporation  of  the  dew 
that  had  fallen  during  the  night.  Something  fine  and  crisp,  fine  as  the  rime  on  the  ground. 
This  indicates  a  small  grain,  scaled  or  hardened  after  the  drying  up  of  the  moisture. 
The  smallness  or  fineness  of  the  grain  is  compared  with  that  of  the  rime  or  hoar- 
frost on  the  ground.  We  shall  have  other  qualities  of  the  manna  as  w^e  proceed  (vs. 
31).  It  is  manna.  The  original  words,  ^•i,-^  "ty^  are  generally  rendered  as  in  the 
margin  of  our  authorized  version,  "What  is  this?"  But  the  former  rendering  ap- 
pears to  be  demanded  by  the  following  reasons  :  (1.)  "  What  is  this"  is  expressed  by 
a  different  phrase,  s*ln"niO'  ^^  ^^^  TiQ^t  sentence.  The  Masoretes  favor  this  distinc- 
tion, by  pointing  ^^,-|  p,  not  j^'^n"]D'  ^^  ^^  ^^^-  ^  •  ^^-  (^•)  "^^^  explanatory  sen- 
tence, "  for  they  wist  not  what  it  was,"  is  superfluous,  if  the  latter  meaning  of  ^]j^^  -t^^ 
betaken.  For  the  question,  "What  is  this?"  implies  that  they  knew  not  what  it 
was.  The  presence  of  this  sentence,  therefore,  suggests  another  meaning  for  the 
previous  words.  (3.)  The  former  meaning  gives  a  significance  to  the  explanatory 
clause.  The  people  say  one  to  another,  in  an  inquiring  way,  "It  is  manna."  By  a 
common  law  of  analogy  or  conversational  generalization  they  give  it  the  name  of  a 
comparatively  scanty  product  of  nature,  to  vv^hich  it  bears  a  considerable  resemblance 
in  locality,  color,  form,  and  perhaps  taste,  though  it  differs  in  origin,  season,  quan- 
tity, and  other  properties.  They  do  this  in  the  ignorance  of  the  moment.  This  is 
what  is  expressed  by  the  explanatory  clause,  "  for  they  wist  not  what  it  was."  They 
had  no  name  for  a  new  product,  and  they  take  the  common  method  of  calling  it  by 
the  name  of  that  which  most  nearly  resembled  it.  Moses  does  not  reject  the  name  ; 
but  proceeds  to  explain  the  nature  and  origin  of  that  which  they  had  so  named  pro- 
visionally. It  is  the  bread.  Such  is  its  nature.  Wliich  the  Lord  hath  given  you.  Such 
is  its  origin. 

The  natural  manna  is  gathered  early  in  June,  a  month  later  than  the  present  time, 
and  in  small  quantity,  not  sufficient  for  the  chief  support  of  life.  The  siipernatural 
manna  was  gathered  every  day,  Sabbaths  excepted,  throughout  the  whole  year,  and  in 
quantities  sufficient  for  the  main  sustenance  of  a  nation  of  at  least  one  million  six 
hundred  thousand  souls  during  a  period  of  forty  years. 

16-21.  The  manner  of  gathering  the  manna  is  here  prescribed.  Every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  eating,  according  to  the  number  of  his  family.  This  is  explained  by  the  fol- 
lowing words.  An  omer  (see  vs.  36)  to  the  poll/  for  the  number  of  your  persons.  This 
was  the  rate  at  which  each  gatherer  was  to  aim.  For  them  that  are  in  his  tent.  The 
tent  (Gen.  4  :  20)  is  an  awning  or  outside  covering  of  any  kind  over  the  wooden  poles 
or  framework  which  formed  the  principal  feature  of  the  booth.  The  tent  was  older 
than  the  deluge,  and  the  phrase,   "  them  that  are  in  his  tent,"   indicates  a  man's 


112  THE   MANNA. 

family  or  company,  whatever  might  be  the  covert  under  which  they  took  shelter  in 
the  desert.  It  does  not  therefore  determine  that  all  or  any  were  actually  possessed  of 
fully-equipped  tents  of  hair-canvas,  but  that  in  general  each  had  a  family  or  company 
with  which  he  tabernacled  as  best  he  could  in  this  temporary  mode  of  life.  17,  18. 
And  they  gathered  some  more,  some  less.  Every  man  endeavored  to  gather  at  least  as 
much  as  would  serve  his  need,  but  some  were  more  successful  than  others  in  the  un- 
measured results.  And  he  that  gathered  much  had  nothing  over.  K  the  grasping  hand 
of  covetousness  or  a  more  favorable  ground  occasioned  a  greater  gathering  by  some 
than  by  others,  yet  was  the  omer  filled  for  each,  and  neither  more  nor  less.  A  potent 
argument  to  teach  them,  if  they  would  learn,  that  all  men  are  equal  in  the  sight  of 
our  Heavenly  Father.  There  was  a  miracle  here,  take  it  how  we  will  ;  and  it  would 
,  be  the  height  of  absurdity  to  meddle  with  the  natural  meaning  of  the  words  in  order 
to  give  a  simpler  form  to  the  miraculous  act.  He  that  distributed  his  bounty  here 
could  equalize  each  single  gathering  as  easily  as  the  collected  whole  with  the  ration 
allotted  to  each.  19-21.  Let  no  man  leave  of  it  till  the  morning.  Another  mighty 
leveller  for  all  the  selfishness  of  pride.  No  store  is  to  be  accumulated.  It  was  in  vain 
that  any  one  disobeyed  this  command.  That  which  was  reserved  till  the  second  day 
became  putrid.  This  in  itself  was  miraculous,  as  the  natural  manna  kept  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  And  when  the  sun  waxed  hot,  it  melted.  The  portion  that  was  ungathered 
in  this  manner  disappeared. 

22-27.  Not  only  the  supply,  but  the  manner  of  it,  is  miraculous.  On  five  days  a 
quantity  sufficient  for  one  day,  on  the  sixth  enough  for  two  days,  and  on  the  seventh 
none  whatever  is  found.  All  the  rulers  of  the  assembly.  These  are  the  heads  of  tribes, 
and  of  fathers'  houses  (Num.  3  :  24,  30,  35).  Came  and  told  Moses.  Moses  had  not 
commanicated  the  intimation  that  on  the  sixth  day  they  would  receive  a  double 
supply.  The  arrangement  was  a  deviation  from  the  law  of  nature,  which  knows  noth- 
ing of  a  seventh  day's  rest.  The  phenomenon,  therefore,  demanded  an  explanation. 
To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy  Sahhath  to  the  Lord.  The  word  "rest"  is  here  put 
first,  because  the  thing  to  be  noted  is  the  cessation  of  labor  on  the  morrow  as  a  reason 
for  the  double  supply  on  the  sixth  day.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  rulers  were  un- 
acquainted with  the  Sabbath.  But  they  had  no  experience  hitherto  of  a  special  pro- 
vision on  the  Lord's  part  for  its  convenient  observance.  In  the  annual  return  of  the 
ordinary  harvest  a  store  was  laid  up  for  the  year  from  which  they  could  supply  them- 
selves for  the  Sabbath.  But  now  they  were  nourished  from  day  to  day.  Hence  the 
necessity  of  a  double  ration  on  the  sixth  day,  if  the  Sabbath  was  to  be  duly  kept.  It 
is  possible  that  the  Sabbath  was  imperfectly  observed,  or  altogether  neglected,  during 
the  bondage  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  though  there  is  no  positive  indication  of  this  in  the 
text.  That  it  should  have  been  forgotten,  hov^ever,  is  contrary  to  the  traditionary 
customs  of  many  other  nations  besides  the  Jews.  Traces  of  the  septenary  division  of 
time  have  been  found  among  the  Egyptians,  Hindoos,  Chinese,  and  Peruvians.  From 
the  first  of  these  it  is  said  (Dion  Cassius)  to  have  passed  to  the  Greeks.  Eomans,  and 
the  Teutonic  nations.  If  it  has  left  its  mark  on  these  scattered  Gentiles,  much  more 
must  it  have  been  remembered  among  the  chosen  people,  who  were  so  near  the  origin 
of  mankind,  and  seem  to  have  possessed  a  continued  thread  of  well-authenticated 
tradition.  All  that  remaineth  over,  after  partaking  for  the  day,  of  the  two  omers  which 
had  been  prepared  for  food  in  whatever  manner  they  pleased.  Lay  up  for  you,  ready 
for  eating  on  the  following  day.  Hence  Moses  says  on  the  Sabbath  (vs.  25),  not 
"  bake  or  seethe,"  but  "  eat  it."     24.  It  did  not  stink.     That  it  should  have  become 


EXODUS  XVI.  28-31.  113 

putrid  the  day  after  being  cooked  is  no  new  difficulty,  when  we  are  in  the  region  of 
the  miraculous.  25,  26.  Directions  are  now  explicitly  given  regarding  the  days  on 
which  the  manna  was  to  be  gathered.  27.  Some  of  the  people,  from  inadvertence  or 
ignorance  of  the  directions  given,  make  the  experiment,  and  find  the  prophet's  word 
good. 

28-31.  The  transgressors  are  now  rebuked  through  Moses  for  their  heedless  dis- 
obedience. My  commandments  and  my  laws  (see  on  Gen.  26  :  5).  The  former  probably 
refer  to  the  special  regulations  concerning  the  manna  ;  the  latter  to  the  standing 
institution  of  the  Sabbath.  29.  The  Lord  hath  given  you  the  Sabbath.  There  is  in  the 
previous  passage  no  express  giving  of  the  Sabbath,  but  rather  a  tacit  assumption 
that  it  has  been  already  given.*  This  is  in  accordance  with  its  institution  at  the 
creation  of  man  recorded  in  Gen.  2  :  1-3.  It  is  here  to  be  noted  that  the  Sabbath  is 
a  gift  to  man,  who  is  doomed  to  labor  in  his  fallen  state  (Gen.  3  :  17-19).  A  periodi- 
cal recurrence  of  relief  from  labor  and  leisure  for  fellowship  with  God  and  with  one 
another  is  a  precious  boon  of  heaven  to  the  toil-worn  in  body  or  mind.  Abide  ye  every 
man  in  his  place.  Come  not  out  for  any  business,  such  as  gathering  manna.  They 
were  at  liberty  to  go  abroad  for  any  purpose  accordant  with  the  Sabbath,  such  as 
attendance  on  the  holy  convocation  (Lev.  23  : 3)  ;  Acts  15  :  21).  Even  works  of 
necessity  or  mercy,  that  cannot  be  put  off  till  the  next  day,  are  not  regarded  as  a  real 
breach  of  the  Sabbath  (Matt.  12  : 1-13  ;  Mark  2  :  23-28).  There  seems  to  have  been 
no  limit  to  the  distance  to  be  walked  on  the  Sabbath  beyond  that  of  convenience, 
leisure  from  business,  and  release  from  toil.  The  Kabbinical  rule  of  later  times, 
however,  was  that  a  Sabbath  day's  journey  should  consist  of  two  thousand  cubits, 
about  five  or  six  furlongs.  This  was  imagined  to  be  the  distance  of  the  remotest  part 
of  the  camp  from  the  tabernacle.  It  was  the  distance  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  from 
Jerusalem  (Acts  1  :  12).     30.  Bested,  IDSiyV  •'^^P*  ^^®  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest. 

31.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  manna  from  heaven  (Ps.  78  :  24  ;  105  :  40)  was 
like  a  fine  grain,  as  small  as  the  hoar-frost.  We  are  now  informed  that  it  was  like 
coriander  seed  in  form,  of  a  whitish  color,  and  of  the  taste  of  a  cake  made  with 
honey.  It  could  be  also  baked  or  seethed  ;  and  this  is  in  accordance  with  the  state- 
ment in  Num.  11  : 7,  8  :  *'  And  the  manna  was  like  coriander  seed,  and  the  color 
thereof  as  the  color  of  bdellium.  And  the  people  went  about  and  gathered,  and 
ground  it  in  the  mill,  or  beat  it  in  the  mortar,  and  baked  it  in  the  pan,  and  made 
cakes  of  it  ;  and  the  taste  of  it  was  as  the  taste  of  oil  cates."  From  the  description 
given  above,  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  miraculous  manna  bore  such  a  resemblance 
to  the  natural  product  so  called,  as  to  lead  to  the  employment  of  a  name  common  to 
both.  But  the  natural  manna  differed  from  the  supernatural  in  its  chemical  ingredi- 
ents ;  the  former  being  of  a  gummy  or  resinous  nature,  and  the  latter  containing 
a  farinaceous  element.  Hence  the  latter  could  be  ground  and  baked  into  bread  or 
boiled  into  pottage,  for  which  the  former  was  only  a  condiment.  The  natural  manna 
also  could  be  kept  for  years  ;  the  supernatural  became  putrid  in  a  night.  Other 
differences  have  been  noted  on  verses  14,  15.  The  taste  of  the  *'  cake  made  with 
honey"  was  probably  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  "  oil  cates."  But  the  one  may 
refer,  as  some  think,  to  the  taste  of  the  raw  and  the  other  to  that  of  the  baked  manna. 
The  color  of  bdellium  when  fresh  and  pure  was  probably  whitish. 

*  This  is,  of  course,  a  disputed  matter.  But  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  best  German 
authorities  now  take  the  ground  here  assumed.  Kurtz  argues  that  the  Sabbath  was  instituted  before 
the  law,  but  received,  for  the  first  time,  a  legal  character  by  the  revelation  at  Sinai.— J,  H. 


114  THE   MANNA. 

32-36.  This  great  gift  of  bread  from  heaven  to  the  chosen  people  during  forty  years 
in  the  wilderness  was  worthy  to  be  had  in  perpetual  remembrance.  It  was  in  itself  a 
marvellous  boon  ;  it  taught  the  grand  lesson  of  entire  dependence  upon  the  Almighty 
Father  of  all  ;  and  it  was  a  striking  type  of  the  bread  of  God,  which  cometh  down 
from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world.  Hence  the  command  to  lay  up  an 
omer-full  of  the  manna  to  be  kept  for  the  generations  to  come.  33.  A  pot.  The  word 
in  the  original  occurs  only  here,  and  probably  denotes  a  more  permanent  vessel  than 
a  mere  basket.  In  the  Sept.  we  find  ardjuvov  xpvoovv,  a  golden  jar,  a  rendering 
which  is  adopted  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (9  :  4).  Before  the  Lord.  This  is  ex- 
plained in  the  next  verse  by  the  phrase,  "  before  the  testimony."  This  testimony  of 
God  to  the  great  principles  of  morality  was  the  law,  written  on  the  tables  of  stone, 
and  deposited  in  the  ark  (25  :  16),  thence  called  the  ark  of  the  testimony.  "  Before 
the  testimony,"  therefore,  means  in  the  ark  of  the  testimony  (Heb.  9  : 4),  whence, 
however,  it  had  disappeared  in  the  time  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  8:9).  34.  So  Aaron 
laid  it  up.  This  act  of  Aaron  must  have  been  performed  after  the  ark  was  made  and 
the  tables  of  stone  were  deposited  in  it.  The  record  of  it,  though  not  written  till 
after  these  events,  is  appended  here  to  complete  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  told  con- 
cerning the  manna.  35.  Ate  manna  forty  years.  We  are  told  in  Josh.  5  :  12  that  the 
manna  ceased  on  the  morrow  after  they  had  eaten  of  the  new  corn  of  the  land,  which 
was  on  the  morrow  after  the  passover.  As  the  manna  commenced  on  or  after  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  second  month,  and  therefore  a  month  after  the  passover  in  Egypt, 
the  people  ate  of  the  manna  forty  years,  wanting  a  month.  Until  they  came  to  a  land 
inhabited.  In  contrast  with  the  wilderness,  in  which  were  only  wanderers,  and  not 
settled  inhabitants.  This  verse  determines,  in  a  general  way,  the  place  as  well  as  the 
time  of  the  ceasing  of  the  manna,  more  widely  in  the  phrase  quoted,  and  more  strictly 
in  the  words  "  until  they  went  to  the  border  of  the  land  of  Kenaan."  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  people  had  in  most  places,  and  especially  when  they  had  made  the 
conquest  of  Persia,  some  ordinary  supplies  of  food.  But  those  who  needed  would 
still  go  out  to  gather,  until  the  supply  of  the  new  corn  of  the  land  satisfied  the  de- 
mands of  all.  This  verse  was  no  doubt  added  when  Moses  was  revising  and  com- 
pleting his  materials  for  Exodus,  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  by  Jordan,  near  Jericho 
(Num.  36  :  13),  or  in  the  valley  over  again  Beth-peor  (Deut.  3  :  29).  The  sentence  is 
evidently  such  as  might  be  written  by  a  prophet  who  was  aware  that  the  forty  years 
of  wilderness  life  were  drawing  to  a  close,  and  perceived  the  supply  of  manna  waning 
to  its  end,  according  as  the  natural  products  of  the  land  were  approaching  to  a  full 
satisfaction  of  the  people's  wants. 

36.  The  omer.  This  name  of  a  measure  seems  to  have  gone  out  of  use  in  the  space 
of  forty  years.  Moses,  therefore,  in  the  revising  of  the  book  of  Exodus  at  the  end  of 
that  period,  takes  occasion  to  add  that  the  omer  was  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah. 
Josephus  (Antiq.  viii.  2.  11)  assumes  the  bath  or  ephah  to  be  equal  to  72  xestai.  Now, 
it  was  estimated  by  Bertheau  that  a  bath  or 

metretes  =  12  choes  =  8,6696  gallons, 

chous  =     6  xestai  =  .7225         '* 

sextary  or  xestes   =     2  cotylae  =  .1204        " 

cotyla  =  .0602 

The  omer  would  thus  be  .8669  gal.,  or  about  7  pints.  According  to  the  Eabbins, 
however,  a  log  was  equal  to  the  contents  of  six  eggs  ;  and  therefore  a  bath,  or  ephah. 


EXODUS    XVII.  113 

containing  72  logs,  held,  according  to  the  estimate  of  Thenius,  4.4286  gal.,  and  conse- 
quently the  omer  .4428  gal.,  or  above  3^  pints.  Now,  3  pints  of  meal  is  sufficient,  on 
an  average,  for  the  daily  support  of  each  member  of  a  family.  As  the  manna,  then, 
would  be  pure  nutriment,  without  any  considerable  loss  in  the  preparation,  we  must 
regard  the  Rabbinical  estimate  as  a  close  approximation  to  the  truth,  and  that  of 
Josephus  as  an  exaggeration.  This  author  is  not  precise  in  his  identifications  ;  as  he 
makes  the  fourth  part  of  a  cab 

=  xestes  =     .1204  gallons, 
cab       =     .4816 
6  cabs     =  seah     =  2.8896 
Sseahs  =  bath     =  8.2688 

His  value  is  thus  only  approximate.  But  in  Antiq .  iii.  6.  6,  the  omer  is  made  =  7 
cotylae  =  ,4214  gal.,  and  therefore  the  bath  =  4.214.  This,  we  perceive,  deviates 
much  from  his  other  estimates,  and  approaches  very  nearly  to  that  oi  the  Rabbins. 
We  subjoin  a  table  of  Hebrew  measures  of  capacity  : 

gal.    qt.      pint. 
Homer    =  10  ephalis  or  baths         =44       1       0.0 
Epliah     =     3  seahs  =  10  omera  =41       1.4 
Seah         =     6  cabs  =     1       1       1.8 

Omer  =01       1.54 

Bath        =     6  bins  =     4      1       1.4 

Hin  =  12  logs  =02      1.9 

Log  =     6  eggs  =0      0      0.5 


CHAP.    XVII. — WATER  FROM  THE   ROCK.      AMALEK   SMITTEN. 

1.  CT'D"!  Rephidim  ;  r.  spread  out,  rest  upon.     Piel.  support, 

2.  J^jp  give  ye,  referring  to  Moses  and  Aaron.  Some  mss.,  the  Sam.,  Sept., 
Targ.,  and  Vulg.  have  n:^?  agreeing  with  Moses  alone.     It  is  an  easier  reading. 

6.  n'^n  Horeb.     Drought,  waste. 

7.  HDD  Massah,  neipacfioi,  temptation,  nino  Meribah,  Xoi66pT]atc  chiding, 
strife. 

9.  Jj'l^'fn''  Jehoshua,  Jehovah  saves.     See  Num.  13  :  16. 

11.  "f-ji.  )1-{^  in  both  cases  is  the  reading  of  the  Sam.,  Sept.,  Targ.,  Syr.  and 
Vulg.     This  also  is  an  easier  reading. 

12.  -|^n  Chur,  ^whle.  ^J^^^?  Gather  Jirmness,  the  substantive  for  the  adjective, 
or  firm,  the  singular,  not  the  plural,  because  Moses  held  up  only  one  hand  at  a 
time. 

1^-  Dn3  ^^'*^6.  "XdW  has  occurred  in  Ex.  5  :  6,  denoting  a  scribe  or  account- 
ant. 

15.  1QJ  I  ^'\^^  .Jehovah-nissi,  the  Lord  my  lanner.  ' 

16.  n''  D3  throne  ofJah.  CZ)  is  here  supposed  to  be  for  XD3,  which  is  indeed  the 
reading  of  the  Sam.  for  these  four  letters.  This  meaning  of  the  word  is  found  in 
the  Targ.,  Arab.,  Pers.,  and  Vulg.  The  Sept.  has  ev  x^ipi  Kpvcbaia,  evidently  read- 
ing (TCD-  One  MS.  is  said  to  have  qj,  which  is  a  favorite  reading  with  many  ex- 


116  WATER   FROM   THE   ROCK. 

positors.     It  is  however  without  support,  and  besides  affords  no  better  sense  than 
the  common  reading. 

XVII.  1.  And  all  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel  set  out  from  the  wilderness  of 
Sin,  after  their  journeys,  according  to  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  ;  and  they  pitched  in 
Kephidim  ;  and  there  was  no  water  for  the  people  to  drink.  2.  And  the  people  chid 
with  Moses,  and  said,  Give  us  water  to  drink.  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  Why 
chide  ye  with  me  ?  Why  tempt  ye  the  Loed  ?  3.  And  the  people  thirsted  there  for 
water,  and  the  people  murmured  against  Moses  ;  and  they  said.  Wherefore  is  this  that 
thou  hast  brought  us  out  of  Mizraim  to  kill  me  and  my  sons,  and  my  cattle  with 
thirst  ?  4.  And  Moses  cried  unto  the  Loed,  saying.  What  shall  I  do  unto  this  people  ? 
They  are  almost  ready  to  stone  me.  5.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Pass  before 
the  people,  and  take  with  thee  of  the  elders  of  Israel  ;  and  thy  rod  wherewith  thou 
smotest  the  river  take  in  thy  hand,  and  go.  6.  Behold,  I  stand  before  thee  there 
upon  the  rock  in  Horeb  ;  and  thou  shalt  smite  the  rock,  and  water  shall  come  out  of 
it,  and  the  people  shall  drink.  And  Moses  did  so  in  the  eyes  of  the  elders  of  Israel. 
7.  And  he  called  the  name  of  the  place  Massah  and  Meribah,  because  of  the  chiding 
of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  of  their  tempting  the  Loed,  saying,  Is  the  Loed  in  the 
midst  of  us  or  not  ?  ^  28. 

8.  Then  came  Amalek  and  fought  with  Israel  in  Eephidim.  9.  And  Moses  said 
unto  Joshua,  Choose  us  out  men  and  go  out,  fight  with  Amalek  :  to-morrow  I  will 
stand  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  the  rod  of  God  in  my  hand.  10.  And  Joshua  did  as 
Moses  said  to  him,  and  fought  with  Amalek  :  and  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Hur  went  up  to 
the  top  of  the  hill.  11.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  held  up  his  hand  that 
Israel  prevailed  ;  and  when  he  let  down  his  hand  Amalek  prevailed.  12.  And  the 
hands  of  Moses  were  heavy,  and  they  took  a  stone  and  put  it  under  him,  and  he  sat 
upon  it  :  and  Aaron  and  Hur  stayed  up  his  hands,  the  one  on  this  side  and  the  other 
on  that  side  ;  and  his  hands  were  steady  until  the  going  down  of  the  sun.  13.  And 
Joshua  discomfited  Amalek  and  his  people  with  the  edge  of  the  sword.  1[  29. 

14.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write  this  for  a  memorial  in  the  book,  and  re- 
hearse it  in  the  ears  of  Joshua  :  for  I  will  utterly  blot  out  the  remembrance  of  Amalek 
from  under  heaven.  15.  And  Moses  built  an  altar,  and  called  its  name  Jehovah-nissi. 
16.  And  he  said,  Because  a  hand  was  upon  the  throne  of  Jah,  the  Loed  will  have  war 
with  Amalek  from  generation  to  generation.  17.  *l[*f[1[  30. 

1-7.  The  striking  of  the  rock  in  Horeb.  All  the  assembly.  The  attention  of  the 
reader  is  still  kept  to  the  marshalled  host.  Set  out.  They  had  passed  two  Sabbaths, 
and  the  intervening  week  at  the  stations  in  the  Wilderness  of  Sin.  After  their 
journeys.  There  may  be  here  a  passing  allusion  to  the  two  stations  Dophkah  and 
Alush,  which,  as  they  were  included  in  the  Wilderness  of  Sin,  and  were  not  the  scenes 
of  any  new  event  of  importance,  are  therefore  omitted  from  the  present  narrative. 
According  to  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  who  by  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  undertook  their 
guidance  (13  :  21,  22).  Pitched  in  Eephidim.  This  is  to  be  sought  in  the  Wady 
Sheikh,  which  runs  in  the  form  of  an  arc  around  the  north  of  that  cluster  of  moun- 
tains to  which  the  general  name  of  Horeb  appears  to  have  been  given.  It  was  cer- 
tainly arid  and  waste,  as  its  name  implies.  Rephidim  was  a  wide-spreading  plain  at 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  fit  for  encampment,  but  destitute  of  water.  It  is  placed 
with  some  probability  on  the  north-east  of  the  mountainous  block.  2.  The  people  chid 
with  Moses.  They  had  probably  endured  the  almost  intolerable  thirst  for  some  time 
in  silence,  expecting  that  Moses  would  find  means  to  extricate  them  out  of  this  new 
difficulty  ;  at  length,  impatient  of  delay,  they  break  out  into  unmerited  reproaches,  as 
if  he  were  trifling  with  their  sufferings.  Give  us  water.  They  evidently  recognize  the 
divine  commission  of  Moses,  and  expect  him  to  have  interfered  on  their  behalf  before 
now.  Why  tempt  ye  the  Lord  ?  He  reminds  them  that  he  was  but  an  agent,  and  that 
the  Lord  alone  was  to  determine  the  time  and  way  of  their  deliverance.     Against  him 


EXODUS  XVII.    8-13.  117 

therefore  they  were  really  murmuring.  3.  And  the  people  thirsted.  Their  distress  be- 
came every  moment  more  insufferable.  To  kill  me.  Each  in  his  impatience  begins  to 
speak  for  himself,  as  he  pines  after  the  refreshing  draught  for  himself,  his  household, 
and  his  flocks.  4.  And  Moses  cried  unto  the  Lord.  The  occasion  for  importunate  sup- 
plication is  come.  Moses  was  in  perplexity  and  danger.  "  It  is  only  to  wait  a  little, 
and  they  will  stone  me."  5.  The  Lord  is  not  slow  to  answer.  Pass  before  the  people. 
Go  on  in  advance  of  them.  Take  with  thee  of  the  elders  of  Israel,  as  concurrents  and  wit- 
nesses of  thy  acts  ;  that  no  one  may  say  that  the  Lord  did  not  work  by  him,  but  that 
fountains  were  there  from  of  old  (Eashi).  And  thy  rod  wherewith  thou  smotest  the  river, 
wherewith  he  was  now  about  to  smite  the  rock  for  water.  6.  Behold  I  stand  before  thee 
there.  The  Lord  was  to  be  there,  probably  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  to  manifest  his 
power.  Upon  the  rock  in  Horeb.  The  mountain  was  towering  on  the  right  of  the 
people.  Toward  this  Moses  was  to  approach  till  he  reached  ' '  the  rock, ' '  the  pro- 
jecting cliff  which  he  was  to  strike.  Eephidim  was  a  day's  march  from  Mount  Sinai 
(19  : 1).  This  is  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  rock  in  Horeb  was  not  the  large  boulder 
in  the  valley  below  Mount  Sinai  which  tradition  points  out  to  the  traveller.  And 
Moses  did  so  in  the  sight  of  the  elders.  And  the  Lord  was  there  to  give  forth  the  reviv- 
ing streams  even  from  the  hard  rock.  It  was  there  demonstrated  that  the  Lord  was 
indeed  in  the  midst  of  them  to  make  their  bread  and  their  water  sure,  and  to  reaffirm 
the  heavenly  mission  of  his  servant.  At  this  now  blessed  spot  they  abode  for  the  re- 
maining days  of  the  week. 

8-13.  Amalek  smitten.  Then  came.  The  country  of  these  nomades  lay  south  of  the 
Philistines  (Gen.  14  :  7).  They  went  therefore  out  of  their  own  territory  to  assail  the 
Israelites.  As  their  pasture-grounds  penetrated  far  into  the  land  of  Kenaan  (Judg. 
5  :  14  ;  12  :  15),  they  would  regard  with  a  hostile  feeling  a  people  who  were  on  the  way 
to  take  possession  of  that  country.  With  them,  accordingly,  first  after  the  political 
independence  of  Israel  was  established,  began  the  Gentile  antagonism  to  the  people 
of  God  (Num.  24  :  20)  to  make  its  appearance.  And  fought  with  Israel.  It  appears 
from  Deut.  25  :  17,  18,  that  this  was  an  attack  upon  the  rear  of  Israel  when  they  were 
faint  and  weary.  In  Eephidim,  a  part  of  the  great  plain  er-Kamleh,  where  there  was  a 
space  for  a  military  encounter.  9.  Joshua  is  here  mentioned  for  the  first  time.  His 
original  name  was  Hoshea  (Num.  13  : 8,  16),  but  Moses  changed  it  to  Joshua,  partly, 
we  may  suppose,  in  allusion  to  the  event  now  about  to  be  recorded.  He  is  the  ninth 
in  descent  from  Joseph,  and  of  course  the  eighth  from  Ephraim  (1  Chron.  7  :  20-27). 
He  is  thus  the  representative  of  one  of  the  most  important  tribes  of  Israel.  Choose  us 
out  men.  Israel  was  now  to  gird  on  his  sword  and  contend  for  his  national  indepen- 
dence. This  was  evidently  no  flying  raid  of  the  Amalekites,  bat  a  war  of  conquest. 
To-morrow,  the  enemy  awaits  them  in  battle  array.  I  will  stand  on  the  top  of  the  hill. 
Moses,  with  the  rod  of  wonder-working  power,  takes  his  station  on  the  neighboring 
eminence  (not  -^nn  ^^^  ny!2in)'  ^^^re  to  take  his  appropriate  part  in  the  approach- 
ing conflict.  10.  Ilur  was  the  fourth  in  descent  from  Judah,  and  the  grandfather  of 
Bezaleel  (31  :  2  ;  1  Chron.  2  : 9-20).  As  he  was  the  grandfather  of  a  full-grown  man, 
and  a  member  of  the  distinguished  tribe  of  Judah,  he  was  the  meet  companion  of 
Aaron  in  attendance  upon  Moses.  11,  12.  Israel  or  Amalek  prevails  according  as  the 
hand  of  Moses  is  held  up  or  let  down.  Accordingly  Aaron  and  Hur  stayed  up  his 
hands  alternately,  so  that  they  were  steady  till  sunset.  The  rod  is  not  mentioned 
here.  This  is  not  a  miraculous  interposition,  but  an  ordinary  exercise  of  faith  in  God 
accompanying  the  use  of  means.     The  lifting  up  of  the  hand  or  hands  is,  among  other 


118  cAMALEK  SMITTElf. 

things,  a  gesture  in  prayer  (Lev.  9  :  22  ;  Ps.  28  : 2  ;  63  : 4  ;  1  Tim.  2  : 8).  It  is  here, 
therefore,  a  figure  for  prayer.  The  continual  holding  up  of  the  hands  denotes  perse- 
verance in  prayer.  Aaron  and  Hur  joining  in  the  upholding  of  Moses's  hands  present 
a  striking  emblem  of  common  prayer.  13.  There  is  power  in  this  prayer  of  Moses. 
Joshua  conquers.  Amalek  and  his  people.  The  one  field  suffices  to  vanquish  Amalek's 
army  and  his  nation  ;  as  they  had  put  forth  their  whole  might  in  this  first  effort. 
The  next  effort  was  not  offensive,  but  defensive,  and  in  alliance  with  the  Kenaanites 
(Num.  14  :  45). 

14-16.  The  importance  of  the  victory  over  Amalek  is  set  forth.  Write.  Here  for 
the  first  time  this  singularly  interesting  word  occurs.  It  is  implied,  indeed,  in  the 
noun  "  book"  (-]£c)»  which  appears  in  Gen.  5  : 1,  as  well  as  here.  It  indicates  that 
writing  was  now  become  so  common  that  the  word  for  it  was  used  in  no  other  sense, 
r/iis  refers  to  the  assault  of  Amalek,  the  victory  over  him,  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  obtained,  and  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  close  of  the  verse.  This  was  the  fi,rst 
encounter  with  the  heathen  ;  and  every  particular  here  enumerated  was  only  a  type 
and  an  earnest  of  what  should  take  place  in  every  future  conflict  between  the  children 
of  repentance  and  the  children  of  disobedience.  For  a  memorial.  Writing  is  a  neces- 
sary help  to  recollection  when  life  is  short  and  memory  feeble.  In  the  book.  The 
article  before  this  word  indicates  either  that  the  book  in  question  was  well  known,  or 
that  a  book  was  then  a  well-known  object.  In  the  ears  of  Joshua,  who  was  to  be  the 
leader  of  the  people,  and  the  conqueror  of  their  enemies.  There  was  special  admo- 
nition and  encouragement  for  him  in  the  mode  and  issue  of  this  battle.  Blot  out  the 
remembrance  of  Amalek.  The  fate  of  Amalek  may  be  read  in  Deut.  25  :  19  ;  1  Sam. 
15  :  30  ;  2  Sam.  1:1;  8  :  12,  from  which  we  learn  that  they  were  subdued  partly  by 
Saul  and  wholly  by  David,  after  which  they  are  no  more  mentioned.  Such  will  be 
the  end  of  all  God's  adversaries.  15.  Aii  altar.  This  is  the  first  altar  the  erection  of 
which  is  on  record,  since  the  time  of  Jacob.  It  marks  a  new  aspect  in  the  affairs  of 
the  people  of  God.  They  have  now  asserted  their  independence,  and,  through  the 
grace  of  God,  gained  the  first  victory  over  their  enemies.  This  is  an  omen  for  all 
time  to  come.  The  erection  of  an  altar  is  always  in  Scripture  a  confession  of  the  per- 
sonal unworthiness  of  fallen  man,  of  the  assured  hope  of  an  atonement,  and  of  hum- 
ble and  grateful  reliance  on  the  grace  of  God.  Hence  the  grace  of  God  in  giving  the 
victory,  and  the  gratitude  of  the  people  in  receiving  it,  here  appropriately  meet. 
Jehovah-nissi.  The  name  of  the  altar  is  expressive  of  thanks  for  the  past  and  trust  for 
the  future  (Ps.  20  : 5-7).  16.  We  have  given  a  literal  version  of  this  obscure  verse. 
The  meaning  turns  upon  the  person  to  whom  the  word  hand  is  referred.  If  it  refer  to 
God,  the  sentence  is  an  oath,  as  in  the  Targ.,  Onk.,  and  the  Auth.  Ver.  But  the  form 
of  oath  is  unusual,  and  the  connection  with  the  context  is  far  from  being  obvious.  If 
it  refer  to  Moses  (Bush)  or  to  Israel  (Keil)  the  meaning  is,  "  because  the  hand  of  faith 
and  prayer  is  toward  the  throne  of  God,"  etc.  This  has  the  advantage  of  reference  to 
the  context  ;  but  the  meaning  here  given  to  the  preposition  ^y  is  unusual,  and  the 
first  clause  does  not  afford  a  good  reasonf  or  the  second.  If  the  hand  refer  to  Amalek 
(Kalisch),  the  sentence  runs  thus,  "because  his  (Amalek's)  hand  was  against  the 
throne  of  Yah  (the  kingdom  of  God,  which  includes  his  people),"  etc.  The  meaning 
is  here  simple  and  easy  ;  the  connection  with  what  goes  before  is  sufficiently  plain  ; 
and  the  reason  assigned  for  perpetual  war  until  Amalek  be  extirpated  is  intelligible 
and  suitable. 


EXODUS   XVIII.  110 


CHAP.    XVIII. — JETHRO. 

2.  C^m^II'  dismissal. 

4.  niy^j*?  Eliezer,  God-help. 

6.  ij}^.  .  The  Sam.,  Sept.,  and  Syr.  have  ,-|3n-  The  sentence  then  runs,  "  And 
one  said  unto  Moses,  Behold,"  etc. 

18.  inii^y  an  old  form  equal  to  ID^JJ. 

36.  1[2'l9^i  an  unusual  form  and  pointing  for  JltO^DlL'^'  I*  seems  to  arise  from 
the  proximity  of  a  pause  falling  on  a  very  short  word. 

XVIII.  1.  And  Jeth.ro,  the  priest  of  Midian,  Moses's  father-in-law,  heard  all  that 
God  had  done  for  Moses,  and  for  Israel  his  people  ;  for  the  Lord  had  brought 
Israel  out  of  Mizraim.  2.  And  Jethro,  Moses's  father-in-law,  took  Zipporah,  Moses's 
wife,  after  he  had  sent  her  back  :  3.  And  her  two  sons,  of  whom  the  name  of  the  one 
was  Gershom  ;  for  he  said,  I  have  become  a  stranger  in  a  foreign  land  ;  4.  And  the 
name  of  the  other  Eliezer  ;  for  the  God  of  my  father  was  my  help,  and  delivered  me 
from  the  sword  of  Pharoh.  5.  And  Jethro,  Moses's  father-in-law,  and  his  sons  and 
his  wife  came  unto  Moses  into  the  wilderness  where  he  encamped  at  the  Mount  of 
God.  6.  And  he  said  unto  Moses,  I,  thy  father-in-law  Jethro,  come  unto  thee,  and 
thy  wife,  and  her  two  sons  with  her.  7.  And  Moses  came  out  to  meet  his  father-in-law, 
and  bowed  himself,  and  kissed  him,  and  they  asked  each  other  of  their  welfare  ;  and 
they  went  into  the  tent.  8.  And  Moses  told  his  father-in-law  all  that  the  Lokd  had 
done  unto  Pharoh  and  to  Mizraim  for  the  sake  of  Israel,  all  the  travail  that  had  come 
upon  them  by  the  way,  and  how  the  Lord  delivered  them.  9.  And  Jethro  rejoiced  over 
aU  the  good  which  the  Lord  had  done  to  Israel,  whom  he  had  delivered  out  of  the 
hand  of  Mizraim.  10.  And  Jethro  said.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  who  hath  delivered  you  out 
of  the  hand  of  Mizraim,  and  out  of  the  hand  of  Pharoh  ;  who  hath  delivered  the  people 
from  under  the  hand  of  Mizraim.  11.  Now  I  know  that  the  Lord  is  greater  than  all 
the  gods,  for  he  has  prevailed  in  the  thing  wherein  they  dealt  proudly  with  them.  12. 
And  Jethro,  Moses's  father-in-law,  took  a  burnt-offering  and  sacrifices  for  God  ;  and 
Aaron  went,  and  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  to  eat  bread  with  Moses' s  father-in-law  before 
God. 

13.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that  Moses  sat  to  judge  the  people  ;  and  the 
people  stood  by  Moses  from  the  morning  unto  the  evening.  14.  And  Moses's  father- 
in-law  saw  all  that  he  did  to  the  people,  and  he  said.  What  is  this  thing  that  thou 
doest  to  the  people  ?  "Why  sittest  thou  thyself  alone,  and  all  the  people  stand  by  .thee 
from  morning  unto  evening  ?  15.  And  Moses  said  unto  his  father-in-law,  Because  the 
people  come  unto  me  to  inquire  of  God.  16.  When  they  have  a  matter  they  come 
unto  me,  and  I  judge  between  one  and  another,  and  I  make  known  the  statutes  of  God 
and  his  laws.  17.  And  Moses's  father-in-law  said  unto  him.  The  thing  that  thou  doest 
is  not  good.  18.  Thou  wilt  surely  wear  away,  thou  and  this  people  that  is  with  thee  : 
for  this  thing  is  too  heavy  for  thee  ;  thou  canst  not  do  it  thyself  alone.  19.  Now 
hearken  to  my  voice,  I  will  advise  thee,  and  God  shall  be  with  thee  ;  be  thou  for  the 
people  before  God,  and  bring  thou  the  causes  unto  God.  20.  And  thou  shalt  teach 
them  the  statutes  and  the  laws,  and  show  them  the  way  wherein  they  must  walk,  and 
the  work  that  they  must  do.  21.  And  thou  shalt  provide  out  of  all  the  people,  able 
men,  fearing  God,  men  of  truth,  hating  covetousness,  and  place  over  them  rulers  of 
thousands,  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens.  22.  And  they  shall 
judge  the  people  at  all  times  ;  and  it  shall  be  that  every  great  matter  they  shall  bring 
to  thee,  and  every  small  matter  they  shall  judge  themselves  :  and  thou  shalt  relieve 
thyself,  and  they  shall  bear  with  thee.  23.  If  thou  do  this  thing  and  God  command 
thee,  then  thou  shalt  be  able  to  endure,  and  also  all  this  people  shall  go  to  their  place 
in  peace.  24.  And  Moses  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  his  father-in-law,  and  did  all  that 
he  had  said.  25.  And  Moses  chose  able  men  out  of  all  Israel,  and  made  them  heads 
over  the  people,  rulers  of  thousands,  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of  fifties,  aiid  rulers  of 
tens.  26.  And  they  were  to  judge  the  people  at  all  times  ;  the  hard  cause  they  were  to 
bring  to  Moses,  and  every  small  matter  to  judge  themselves.  27.  And  Moses  let  his 
father-in-law  depart  ;  and  he  went  his  way  unto  his  own  place.  ^  31. 


120 

Moses  had  formerlj'  led  the  flock  of  Jethro  as  far  as  "  the  mount  of  God  in  Horeb." 
As  soon  as  he  arrives  at  this  point,  therefore,  he  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jethro,  who 
accordingly  pays  him  a  visit,  accompanied  by  Zipporah  and  her  two  sons.  The  chap- 
ter contains  the  reception  of  Jethro,  and  the  advice  he  tenders  to  his  son-in-law  con- 
cerning the  government  of  the  people.  It  is  probable,  as  we  shall  see  (vs.  5),  that  this 
visit  took  place  after  the  assembly  had  encamped  before  the  mount.  The  record  of 
this  collateral  occurrence  is  placed  here,  at  a  convenient  pause,  that  it  may  not  inter- 
fere with  the  main  current  of  the  narrative  *  (see  on.-^<j|^^'i^  Gen.  1  : 3). 

1-12.  The  arrival  of  Jethro.  Heard  all.  The  spread  of  intelligence  is  much  more 
rapid  among  nomadic  tribes  than  in  a  settled  population.  2.  Took  Zipporah.  He  re- 
ceived her  when  she  returned  from  Moses  ;  but  now  he  takes  her  to  bring  her  back  to 
him.  After  he  had  sent  her  back,  n^n'l/ti''  This  word  occurs  twice  elsewhere 
(1  Kings  9:16;  Micah  1  :  14).  In  the  former  passage  it  denotes  a  present  to  a  daughter 
sent  away  in  marriage  ;  in  the  latter  it  denotes  a  figurative  dismissal.  It  is  here  applied 
to  the  dismissal  of  his  wife  and  children,  most  probably  when  the  youngest  child  was 
circumcised  on  the  way  to  Egypt,  and  was  therefore  unable  to  proceed  (see  on  4  :  26). 
3,  4.  Gershom  (see  on  2  :  22).  Eliezer.  This  is  the  second  son  indicated  in  4  :  20,  24. 
"•liyS  ^^  °^  ^^^  ^y  help.  Moses  had  a  grateful  remembrance  of  his  deliverance 
from  the  sword  of  Pharoh.  5,  6.  Encamped  at  the  mount  of  God.  "  The  mount  of  God" 
is  that  mount  in  Horeb  on  which  the  law  was  delivered.  This  we  take  to  be  an  indi- 
cation that  Moses  had  left  Eephidim,  and  was  now  encamping  (fijj-j)  within  sight  of 
Sinai.  Hence  the  visit  of  Jethro  takes  place  after  the  arrival  of  the  people  at  the 
"Wilderness  of  Sinai  (see  on  19  : 1).  And  he  said  unto  Moses,  by  a  messenger  in  advance. 
This  is  a  frequent  expansion  of  the  meaning  attached  to  this  phrase  (12  :  3,  21). 

7-12.  The  reception  of  Jethro.  Moses  came  out  to  meet.  He  pays  all  honor  to  Jethro 
as  his  father-in-law,  and  as  the  priest  of  Midian.  He  naturally  rehearses  to  him  the 
wonders  of  the  short  period  during  which  they  had  been  separated.  9-11.  Jethro  gives 
expression  to  the  joy  he  felt  in  the  deliverance  of  Israel.  Blessed  he  the  Lord.  Jethro 
here  explicitly  acknowledges  Jehovah  as  God.  He  was  no  doubt  acquainted  by  the 
tradition  of  his  Hebrew  fathers  with  the  being  and  the  mercy  of  God,  and  he  might 
have  learned  the  significant  name  Jehovah  from  Moses,  if  not  before.  The  Lord  is  greater 
than  all  the  gods.  A  man  in  Jethro' s  position  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the  polytheism 
that  had  now  resulted  from  the  division  of  human  interests  and  opinions.  Yet  his  spon- 
taneous confession  may  convey  simply  the  conviction  of  the  infinite  pre-eminence  of 
Jehovah.  For  he  has  prevailed,  or  showed  himself  greater,  in  the  very  thing  in  which 
the  Egyptians  dealt  proudly  with  the  Israelites.  The  authorized  version  gives  precisely 
the  same  sense,  though  with  a  different  application,  of  the  word  Q;'\t'''/V-  12.  Jethro 
gives  a  practical  exhibition  of  his  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  by  offering  sacrifice. 
The  burnt-offering  is  the  completest  symbol  of  the  atonement  for  sin  (Gen.  8 :  20). 
The  sacrifice  being  eaten  partly  by  the  worshipper  expresses  communion  with  God  as 
the  result  of  atonement.  The  common  participation  before  God  of  the  sacrifice  is  the 
emblem  of  the  communion  of  the  worshippers  in  the  blessings  of  the  divine  favor. 

13-27.  The  counsel  of  Jethro  concerning  the  administration  of  justice.  On  the 
morrow.  The  day  after  the  sacrifice,  which  was  offered  on  the  day  of  or  the  day  after 
Oethro's  arrival.     Moses  sat.     Sitting  is  the  posture  of  the  judge,  standing  that  of 

*  Possibly,  also,  as  illustrative  of  the  opposite  attitudes  taken  by  men  toward  the  church  of  God. 
Amalek  resists,  and  is  overcome.  Jethro,  formally  among  the  heathen,  takes  the  place  of  a  sympa- 
thizing friend,  and  is  treated  accordingly.— J.  H. 


EXODUS  XYIII.    17-23.  121 

those  "who  come  to  receive  judgment.  From  the  morning  unto  the  evening.  During  the 
whole  of  that  part  of  the  day  assigned  to  public  business.  14-16.  Moses  explains  to  • 
Jethro  the  necessitj'  of  this  constant  sitting.  To  inquire  of  God,  is  to  come  to  his  min- 
ister or  representative  to  obtain  an  answer  to  any  inquiry  which  is  beyond  human 
solution.  In  the  present  case  the  object  of  the  inquiry  is  a  judicial  decision  in  a  dis- 
pute between  man  and  man.  In  a  theocracy  this  proceeds  from  God  through  his 
ministers.  Hence  to  appeal  to  them  is  virtually  to  appeal  to  God  (21  : 6).  And  I 
make  known.  This  was  a  process  of  instruction  especially  necessary  for  a  new  nation 
for  which  a  code  of  jurisprudence  had  not  yet  been  provided.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  not  possible  for  one  person  to  instil  the  principles  of  law  into  the  hearts  of 
all  the  people,  much  less  to  administer  justice  to  a  community  of  at  least 
one  million  six  hundred  thousand  individuals.  The  statutes  of  God  and  his  laws 
(12  :  24,  49),  his  occasional  decisions  and  edicts,  and  his  general  laws  and  principles 
of  rectitude. 

17-23.  The  plan  suggested  by  Jethro.  He  disapproves  of  the  present  practice  of 
Moses,  as  too  laborious  and  tedious.  Thou  wilt  surely  wear  away.  The  causes  that 
will  arise  among  the  people  will  occupy  all  thy  time  to  the  exclusion  of  needful  leisure 
for  recreation  and  for  other  duties.  And  the  people  that  is  with  thee.  They  will  be 
wearied  in  waiting  for  the  decision  of  their  litigations,  which  will  be  delayed  in  con- 
sequence of  thy  inability  to  determine  them  as  fast  as  they  arise.  And  this  delay 
may  tempt  them  to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and  so  anarchy  and  outrage 
may  pave  the  way  for  their  gradual  annihilation.  I'hou  canst  not  do  it  thyself  alone. 
Hence  a  division  of  the  labor  is  necessary,  that  it  may  be  done  promptly  and  efficiently. 
19,  20.  And  God  shall  he  with  thee,  approving  of  thy  course,  and  aiding  thee  in  its  ex- 
ecution. Jethro  means  that  he  should  not  proceed  without  the  divine  concurrence. 
Be  thou  for  the  people  before  God,  between  God  and  the  people,  to  represent  him  to 
them,  and  their  causes  to  him.  Thou  shall  teach  them,  expound  the  regulations  and 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  law.  The  way,  the  moral  principle  of  their  conduct. 
The  icork,  the  conduct  which  they  are  to  pursue  in  the  way  which  the  law  directs. 
Moses  is  thus  to  be,  under  God,  the  great  teacher  of  the  people,  the  promulgator  of 
law,  and  the  director  of  its  administration.  21,  22.  Provide  out  of,  look  out  among 
you.  This  was  done  by  the  people  themselves  proposing  men  to  be  approved  and 
appointed  by  Moses,  as  he  himself  explains  (Deut.  1  :  13,  15),  "  Give  ye  wise  men, 
and  understanding,  and  known  among  your  tribes,  and  I  will  make  them  rulers  over 
you."  "And  I  took,"  accepted  at  the  hand  of  the  people.  Able  men,  having  the  req- 
uisite abilities  for  the  office.  This  is  the  first  qualification.  Fearing  God,  men  of 
piety.  Men  of  tndh,  whose  word  may  be  trusted.  Hating  covetousness,  that  wiU  not 
therefore  be  bribed  to  pronounce  unjust  decisions.  An  admirable  choice  and  order 
of  qualifications.  Eiders  of  thousands.  It  has  been  calculated  by  the  Talmudists, 
and  even  by  Grotius,  that  according  to  this  arrangement  seventy-eight  thousand  six 
hundred  judges  would  be  required  for  six  hundred  thousand  men.  But  we  cannot 
suppose  that  the  patriarchal  rule,  which  is  a  law  of  nature,  was  to  be  superseded  by 
this  regulation.  A  father  was  still  to  be  acknowledged  as  the  governing  head  of  his 
descendants  during  his  life,  especially  when  they  dwelt  with  him  in  the  same  house 
or  tent.  And  he  is  the  unit  intended  in  the  thousands,  hundreds,  fifties,  and  tens 
here  mentioned.  Thus  in  Josh.  7  :  16-24  we  find  Israel  divided  into  tribes,  the  tribe 
of  Judah  into  clans  (n'lriDti^lO)'  *^^  ^^^^  °^  Zarhi  into  men  (CH^i^'  iiidividuals  or 
units,  of  whom  Achan  was  one.     But  Achan  has  sons  and  daughters  and  a  tent,  and 


122  JETHRO'S   VISIT  TO   MOSES. 

is  therefore  tlie  father  of  a  house.  Such  a  house,  including  children,  might  contain 
from  five  to  fifty  individuals.  We  may  take  twenty  as  a  reasonable  average  of  a 
grandfather's  family.  Ten  such  families  would  in  that  case  amount  to  two  hundred 
individuals,  and  ten  such  heads  are  the  smallest  number  allowed  by  the  Talmudists 
to  constitute  a  synagogue.  In  a  people  of  at  least  one  million  six  hundred  thousand 
there  would  thus  be  eight  thousand  rulers  of  tens,  sixteen  hundred  rulers  of  fifties, 
eight  hundred  rulers  of  hundreds,  and  eighty  rulers  of  thousands,  and  therefore  ten 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty  rulers  in  all.  The  number  of  appeals  from  rulers 
of  tens  would  be  proportionately  greater  than  from  the  higher  judges,  because  they 
were  not  much  in  rank  above  the  fathers  of  houses  ;  and  hence  the  rulers  of  fifties 
seem  to  be  introduced  to  distribute  the  burden  which  would  otherwise  fall  on  the 
rulers  of  hundreds.  Every  great  matter  Avould  come  up  to  Moses  either  by  appeal, 
where  the  parties  were  dissatisfied  with  the  judgment  of  the  inferior  courts,  or  by  ref- 
erence, when  these  courts  were  deterred  from  judging  by  the  difficulty  of  the  cause. 
The  latter  is  the  mode  expressly  recognized  in  the  text,  and  was  probably,  in  the 
custom  of  the  people,  inclusive  of  the  former.  And  God  command  thee.  Jethro  sub- 
mits his  proposal  to  the  decision  of  God.  Go  to  their  place  in  peace.  Prompt  and  im- 
partial administration  of  justice  will  allay  quarrels  and  beget  that  mutual  confidence 
and  good  feeling  which  tends  to  peace.  Jethro  presents  his  modest  proposal  as  a 
temporary  expedient,  until  the  people  should  arrive  in  a  country  where  they  might 
have  settled  institutions. 

24-26.  And  Moses  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  his  father -in-laio.  This  sentence  throws 
light  on  the  ways  of  Providence  and  on  the  character  of  Moses.  The  practical  mind 
of  Jethro,  on  the  first  glance  at  a  great  evil,  is  prompted  to  suggest  an  immediate 
remedy.  Moses,  on  the  other  hand,  being  a  man  of  a  more  educated  mind  and  more 
deferential  spirit,  and  aware  that  this  evil  has  only  lasted  for  a  month  or  two,  and  will 
very  soon  be  removed  by  the  promulgation  of  a  complete  code  of  laws,  waits  in  reve- 
rential patience,  as  is  his  wont,  for  the  intimation  of  Heaven  to  initiate  the  needed 
change.  But  the  suggestion  of  Jethro  he  receives  with  that  respectful  attention 
which  was  then  paid  to  age,  acknowledges  to  be  agreeable  to  the  dictates  of  his  own 
reason,  and  accepts  as  the  mode  presented  in  the  dispensation  of  Providence  for  the 
removal  of  the  present  difficulty,  *  The  method  of  the  providence  of  God  is  evidently 
out  of  the  given  emergency  to  elicit  the  required  measure,  either  by  an  immediate 
communication  from  heaven  or  by  a  suggestion  of  human  reason  adequate  to  the 
occasion,  and  approved  by  God,  Neither  the  disposition  nor  the  past  training  of 
Moses  inclined  him  to  step  before  the  Almighty  in  devising  a  remedy  for  ordinarj^ 
difficulties  ;  and  even  this  meekness  was  no  small  qualification  for  his  high  office. 
25,  And  Moses  chose.  By  a  common  figure  he  is  said  to  do  that  which  he  caused  to 
be  done.     The  people  chose  at  Moses's  direction. 

27.  And  Moses  let  his  father-in-law  depart.  The  sacred  writer,  as  usual,  brings  one 
line  of  events  to  a  close  before  passing  to  another.  We  are  not  bound,  therefore,  to 
conclude  that  Moses  completed  the  introduction  of  his  new  measures  for  the  admin- 
istration of  justice,  and  parted  with  his  father-in-law  before  the  series  of  events  re- 
corded in  the  following  chapters  had  commenced.  So  far  as  the  form  of  the  narra- 
tive goes,  we  are  at  liberty  to  suppose  that  the  interview  with  Jethro  took  place  any 

*  There  may  be  sound  wisdom  and  organizing  talent  outside  the  Church  of  God,  and  it  is  the  part 
of  true  wisdom  to  recognize  it,  always,  however,  as  in  this  case,  in  meek  deference  to  the  Divine 
will,— J.  H. 


EXODUS  XVIII.  27.  123 

time  during  the  encampment  at  the  "  mount  of  God."  The  parallel  passage  (Deut. 
1  :  9-18)  referring  to  the  institution  of  civil  magistrates,  dates  this  measure  with  pre- 
cisely the  same  latitude.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are  not  constrained  to  suppose 
these  proceedings  unfinished,  if  the  time  suffice  for  their  accomplishment.  Now 
the  assembled  host  arrived  at  the  Wilderness  of  Sin  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  second 
month.  If  this  was  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  the  whole  of  this  week  was  spent 
at  the  three  stations  in  this  wilderness,  eight  days  would  remain  for  the  journey  to 
Eephidim,  the  smiting  of  the  rock  in  Horeb,  and  the  battle  with  Amalek.  It  appears 
from  the  following  chapter  that  the  journey  to  the  Wilderness  of  Sinai  took  place  on 
the  first  of  the  third  month.  It  is  possible  that  the  interview  with  Jethro,  and  the 
tendering  of  his  counsel,  may  have  taken  place  on  the  second  and  third,  and  the  carry- 
ing of  this  proposal  into  effect  on  the  fourth  and  fifth.  And  it  seems  reasonable  that 
Moses  should  be  at  once  relieved  of  the  burden  of  personally  hearing  and  deciding 
upon  every  case  of  litigation  that  might  arise  among  the  people.  Jethro,  however, 
may  have  taken  leave  for  a  time  on  the  third  day.  It  is  most  probable  that,  during 
the  eleven  months  and  twenty  days  of  the  sojourn  of  Israel  in  the  Wilderness  of 
Sinai,  there  were  frequent  interviews  between  Moses  and  his  relatives  by  marriage,  as 
they  were  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  The  passage  in  Num.  10  :  29-32,  however, 
refers  to  the  farewell  and  final  parting  between  them,  when  the  marshalled  host  set 
out  for  the  Wilderness  of  Paran  on  their  way  to  the  promised  land. 


SECTION  lY— THE   LAWGIYmG. 

XI.     THE   MORAL   LAW.— Ex.  19-20. 

CHAP.   XIX. — PKEPARATION   FOR   LAWGIVING. 

13.  7)^1  the  Uower,  horn,  cornet  ;  r.  Jiow,  Mow,  go.  It  is  equal  to  T'n'in  ]1p>  the 
horn  of  blowing  or  sounding,  and  nDilI^>  cornet.  It  differs  from  ni^lin>  the 
straight  trumpet.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  originally  a  ram's  horn.  The  Rab- 
bins and  others  affirm  that  ^ni  signifies  a  ram.  In  Phoenician  inscriptions  it  is 
said  to  have  this  meaning. 

XIX.  1.  In  the  third  month  of  the  departure  of  the  sons  of  Israel  from  the  land  of 
Mizraim,  on  this  day  were  they  come  to  the  wilderness  of  Sinai.  2.  And  they  set  out 
from  Eephidim  and  went  to  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  and  pitched  in  the  wilderness  ; 
and  there  Israel  pitched  before  the  mountain. 

3.  And  Moses  went  up  unto  God,  and  the  Lord  called  unto  him  out  of  the  moun- 
tain, saying,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  sons  of  Israel. 
4.  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  Mizraim,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagle's  wings,  and 
brought  you  unto  me.  5.  And  now  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed,  and  keep  my 
covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me  above  all  the  peoples  :  for  all 
the  earth  is  mine.  6.  And  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  a  holy 
nation.  These  are  the  words  which  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel.  7.  And 
Moses  went  and  called  for  the  elders  of  the  people,  and  laid  before  them  all  these 
words  which  the  Lokd  commanded  him.  8.  And  all  the  people  answered  together  and 
said.  All  that  the  Loed  hath  spoken  we  will  do.  And  Moses  returned  the  words  of  the 
people  unto  the  Lokd.  9.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Lo,  I  come  unto  thee  in 
the  thick  cloud,  that  the  people  may  hear  when  I  speak  with  thee,  and  so  believe  thee 
forever.  And  Moses  told  the  words  of  the  people  unto  the  Lord.  10.  And  the  Loed 
said  unto  Moses,  Go  unto  the  people,  and  sanctify  them  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and 
let  them  wash  their  clothes.  11.  And  be  ready  for  the  third  day  :  for  on  the  third 
day  the  Lord  will  come  down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people  upon  mount  Sinai.  12, 
And  thou  shalt  set  bounds  to  the  people  round  about,  saying,  Beware  ye  of  going  up 
to  the  mount,  or  touching  the  border  of  it  :  whosoever  toucheth  the  mount  shall  be 
surely  piit  to  death.  13.  There  shall  not  a  hand  touch  him,  but  he  shall  be  surely 
stoned  or  shot  through  ;  whether  beast  or  man,  it  shall  not  live  :  when  the  trumpet 
soundeth  long,  they  shall  go  up  to  the  mount,  14,  And  Moses  went  down  from  the 
mount  unto  the  people  :  and  he  sanctified  the  people,  and  they  washed  their  clothes. 
15.  And  he  said  unto  the  people.  Be  ye  ready  for  the  third  day  :  come  not  at  your 
wives. 

16.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  in  the  morning,  that  there  were  thunders 
and  lightning,  and  a  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount,  and  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  very 
loud  ;  and  all  the  people  that  were  in  the  camp  trembled.  17,  And  Moses  brought 
forth  the  people  from  the  camp  to  meet  with  God  ;  and  they  stood  at  the  nether  part 
of  the  mount.  18  And  Mount  Sinai  was  all  asmoke,  because  the  Loed  came  down 
upon  it  in  fire  :  and  the  smoke  thereof  went  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the 


126  ISRAEL   ARRIVES    AT   SIJifAI. 

whole  mount  trembled  greatly.  19.  And  when  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  waxed  louder 
and  louder,  Moses  spake,  and  God  answered  him  by  a  voice.  20.  And  the  Loed  came 
down  upon  Mount  Sinai,  on  the  top  of  the  mount  ;  and  the  Lord  called  Moses  to  the 
top  of  the  mount,  and  Moses  went  up.  21.  And  the  Lokd  said  unto  Moses,  Go  down, 
charge  the  people,  lest  they  break  through  unto  the  Lord  to  gaze,  and  many  of  them 
perish.  22.  And  let  the  priests  also,  who  come  near  to  the  Loed,  sanctify  themselves, 
lest  the  Loed  break  forth  upon  them.  23.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Loed,  The  people 
cannot  come  up  to  Mount  Sinai  ;  for  thou  hast  charged  us.  saying,  Set  bounds  about 
the  mount,  and  sanctify  it.  24.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  him,  Go,  get  thee  down,  and 
thou  shalt  come  up,  thou  and  Aaron  with  thee  ;  but  let  not  the  priests  or  the  people 
break  through  to  come  up  unto  the  Loed,  lest  he  break  forth  upon  them.  25.  Ajid 
Moses  went  down  unto  the  people,  and  spake  unto  them.  §  20. 

The  exodus  from  Egypt  is  now  past.  That  great  event  includes  two  concurring 
elements  in  the  moral  history  of  the  people — redemption  and  renovation.  They  are 
redeemed  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt  ;  they  are  renovated  in  their  feeling  of  allegiance 
to  Jehovah,  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth.  Their  redemption  appears  in  their  deliver- 
ance from  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  from  the  power  of  Egypt  in  the  passage  of  the  Eed 
Sea,  and  from  drought  and  famine  in  the  miraculous  supplies  of  manna,  quails,  and 
water  with  which  they  have  been  favored  in  the  wilderness.  Their  renovation  of  con- 
science and  will  is  discovered  in  their  faith  in  Moses  as  the  attested  minister  of 
Heaven,  their  unanimous  observance  of  the  significant  solemnity  of  the  passover,  and 
in  their  ready  and  thankful  departure  from  Egypt  at  the  instance  of  the  Lord,  who 
had  guaranteed  their  deliverance.  After  the  new  birth  comes  new  obedience  to 
Heaven's  eternal  law.  The  coexistence,  however,  of  the  old  nature  with  the  new 
principle  of  spiritual  life  in  the  heart  of  the  nation  renders  the  promulgation  of  law 
necessary  as  well  as  seasonable.  It  is  seasonable  precisely  when  power  to  comply 
with  it  has  been  engendered  in  the  soul.  And  it  is  necessary  because  the  infant  will 
and  the  awakened  conscience  need  to  be  enlightened  and  guided  by  a  code  of  laws  in 
checking  and  rooting  out  the  old  habits  of  sin  which  have  blinded  the  eyes,  warped  the 
original  bent,  and  marred  the  moral  beauty  of  the  soul.  Hence  the  legislation  comes 
in  the  train  of  the  redemption  and  spiritual  renewal  of  the  nation.  Hence  the  law  is 
a  doctrine  (n~l*l'ri)  ^°^  ^^®  information  of  the  conscience  and  the  training  of  the  will. 
Hence  it  consists  mainly  of  prohibitions  for  the  repression  of  those  habitual  tenden . 
cies  which  linger  in  the  renovated  soul  from  the  evil  bias  of  the  past. 

The  lawgiving  is  accordingly  a  step  in  advance  of  the  exodus.  It  is  an  end  to  which 
the  exodus  is  the  means.  It  stands  forth,  therefore,  as  the  second  prominent  theme 
in  the  book  before  us.  Like  the  Exodus,  it  occupies  six  chapters,  of  which  the  first  is 
a  preface  and  the  last  a  conclusion.  In  the  preparatory  chapter  we  have  the  arrival  of 
the  people  at  Mount  Sinai,  the  directions  for  the  purifying  of  the  people,  and  the  de- 
scription of  Mount  Sinai  when  the  Lord  descended  upon  it. 

1,  2.  The  arrival  at  the  place  where  the  law  was  to  be  given.  In  the  third  month.  As 
the  term  here  employed  denotes  the  new  month,  and  a  precise  day,  "  on  this  day, "  is 
indicated,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  first  day  of  the  month  is  intended.  It  is 
therefore  now  a  month  and  a  half  since  they  left  Egypt.  Were  they  come  to.  This  ex- 
pression indicates  that  the  events  of  the  preceding  chapter  reached  to  a  point  of  time 
beyond  that  which  is  now  taken  up  as  the  main  narrative  (see  on  Gen.  pp.  23,  34,  39). 
It  is  intended  at  the  same  time  to  date  emphatically  the  day  of  their  arrival.  In  the 
next  verse  the  consecutive  order  of  the  narrative  proceeds. 

ISinaL     From  the  usage  of  Scripture,  and  especially  of  these  chapters,  it  is  plain 


EXODUS  XIX.   1,   2.  127 

that  Sinai  denotes  a  particular  mountain,  while  Horeb  denotes  a  block  or  range  of 
mountains,  with  their  intervening  wadys,  coinciding  in  a  great  measure  with  Jebel 
et-Tur.  This  granite  mass  includes  the  Wadys  es-Sheikh,  er-Eahah,  and  es-Sebayeh, 
with  all  their  lesser  outlets.  The  Wilderness  of  Sinai  seems  to  be  the  plains  and  wadys 
in  its  immediate  neighborhood,  where  cattle  might  browse  or  men  encamp.  We  take 
Sinai  to  be  that  detached  mass  of  which  Jebel  Musa  is  the  highest  point,  and  Eas 
Sufsafeh  is  the  peak  that  rises  almost  perpendicularly  over  the  Wady  er-Eahah,  for  the 
following  among  other  reasons  :  (1.)  Josephus  (Antiq.  iii.  5,  1)  says  it  is  the  highest  of 
all  the  mountains  in  that  country.  Now  Serbal,  which  Lepsius  takes  to  be  the  scene 
of  the  lawgiving,  is  only  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  feet  high  (Stanley,  Map 
of  Elevations  in  Sinai  and  Palestine),  while  the  cluster  to  which  Sinai  belongs  is  about 
nine  thousand  feet  high.  Jebel  Musa,  in  particular,  rises  to  seven  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty  feet.  (2.)  There  are  the  Wadys  er-Eahah,  es-Sheikh,  and,  according 
to  Laborde  (Comment,  p.  108)  and  F.  A.  Strauss  (Sinai,  p.  134),  es-Sebayeh,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Jebel  Musa,  which  are  amply  sufiicient  for  the  encampment  of  a  large  host. 
Eobinson  (Biblical  Eesearches,  i.  p.  140)  measured  across  the  water-shed  of  er-Eahah, 
and  found  it  to  be  nine  hundred  yards,  while  the  distance  from  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain was  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  yards.  The  northern  slope  of 
the  plain  he  judged  to  be  somewhat  less  than  a  mile  in  length,  by  one  third  of  a  mile 
in  breadth.  The  whole  plain  he  estimates  at  two  miles  long,  and  from  a  third  to  two 
thirds  of  a  mile  broad.  "  This  space  is  nearly  doubled  by  the  recess  to  the  west  and 
the  Wady  es-Sheikh."  Here,  then,  is  an  open  space  of  about  two  square  miles.  Of 
the  Plain  es-Sebayeh,  Strauss  reports  that  the  side  on  which  the  Wady  es-Sebayeh  en- 
ters the  plain  is  fourteen  hundred  feet  in  breadth,  and  at  the  south-western  foot  of 
the  mountain  eighteen  hundred  feet  ;  that  the  latter  is  the  breadth  at  its  central 
part,  and  its  length  from  east  to  west  is  twelve  thousand  feet  ;  and  that  toward  the 
south  it  rises  very  gradually,  and  even  the  mountains  which  bound  it  on  the  south 
have  a  gentle  slope.  This  plain  is  therefore  about  a  square  mile  in  area.  It  is  ac- 
knowledged that  there  are  no  such  open  spaces  in  the  vicinity  of  Serbal.  (3.)  The 
way  to  Jebel  Musa  is  much  more  open  for  a  large  host  than  that  to  or  from  Serbal. 
(4.)  The  stations  before  and  after  the  former  can  be  more  readily  accounted  for  than 
before  and  after  the  latter.  On  this  point  we  can  only  refer  to  Eobinson.  (5.)  The 
tradition  is  in  favor  of  Jebel  Musa.  This  is  unquestioned  up  to  the  time  of  Justinian, 
who  founded  a  church  on  one  of  the  wadys  of  Sinai  in  527  b.c, according  to  Procopius. 
Before  this  period,  however,  it  is  contended  by  Lepsius  and  others  that  the  tradition 
was  in  favor  of  Mount  Serbal,  on  the  supposed  authority  of  Eusebius,  Jerome,  and 
Cosmas  Indicopleustes.  But  Eusebius,  according  to  the  rendering  of  Jerome  (De  situ 
et  nom.  Heb.)  thus  describes  Horeb — Choreb  mons  Dei  in  regione  Madian  juxta 
montem  Sina  super  Arabiam  in  deserto  (Cui  jungitur  mons  et  desertum  Saracenorum, 
quod  vocatur  Paran.  Mihi  autem  videtur,  quod  duplici  nomine  idem  mons  nunc 
Sinai  nunc  Choreb  vocetur).  From  this  passage  it  is  evident  that  Eusebius  places 
Horeb  in  Midian,  while  Serbal  belonged  to  Amalek,  or  at  least  not  to  Midian.  And 
Jerome  regards  Paran,  the  mountain  of  the  Saracens,  or,  as  he  explains,  the  Ishmael- 
ites,  as  adjoining  the  desert  in  which  Horeb  was  situated.  Now  mount  Paran  is  in 
Jerome's  estimation  either  Serbal,  or  it  is  not.  If  it  be,  then  Sinai  and  Horeb  are 
different  from  it.  If  it  be  not,  then  Eusebius  and  Jerome  say  nothing  whatever  of 
Serbal.  These  authors  (on  Faran)  also  report  that  the  children  of  Israel  marched 
through  Paran  when  they  left  Sinai,  and  that  Pharan  is  three  days'  journey  from  Ailah 


128  ISRAEL    ARRIVES    AT    SINAI. 

or  Elath.  Serbal,  therefore,  if  it  were  Paran,  could  not  be  identical  with  Sinai,  But 
it  cannot  be  the  same  with  Paran,  as  it  is  about  seventy-five  miles  from  Ailah,  which 
would  be  at  least  four  days'  journey.  They  also  record  (Raphidim)  that  Kephidim  is 
beside  Horeb,  and  near  Paran  ;  a  statement  which,  after  the  preceding  notices,  im- 
plies only  that  it  lay  between  the  two,  and  by  no  means  that  the  two  are  identical. 
Cosmas  (Topogr,  Christ,  lib.  v.)  writes,  Elra  ndXiv  Tzapsvt^alov  eis  FacpiSlv,  els  Tf/0  viv 
XeyofjLEVTjv  4>apdv.  This  merely  intimates  that  Kephidim  was  in  the  region  then  called 
Pharan.  Hence,  he  says,  Moses  proceeds  to  Mount  Horeb,  which  is  in  the  Sinaic 
(range)  about  six  miles  from  Pharan  {elg  Xuprj/S  to  6/)o5,  TovreoTiv,  Iv  tu  livaio)  eyyvS 
ovTi  rfji  ^apuv  6i  cltto  fit/iluv  k^).  The  present  ruins  of  the  town  Feiran  are  about  six. 
teen  miles  from  Jebel  Musa,  and  about  six  miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  gran- 
itic block  to  which  it  belongs,  while  it  cannot  properly  be  said  to  be  any  distance 
from  Serbal,  at  the  foot  of  which  it  lies.  Cosmas  regards  Horeb  as  a  part  of  the 
Sinaic  cluster  of  hills,  and  hence  he  speaks  loosely  of  the  inscriptions,  which  he 
says  are  found  in  all  the  stations  of  the  Israelites,  as  existing  in  the  desert  of  the  Sinaic 
range  (kv  kKeivy  ry  eprjinc)  rov  Hivatov  opovS  ev  TzdaaiS  KaTairavGeai).  "We  may  here  ob- 
serve, indeed,  that  these  inscriptions  are  found  to  be  due,  not  to  the  Israelites  or  the 
Christians,  but  to  the  inhabitants,  or  the  pilgrims  of  a  heathen  superstition,  and 
therefore  afford  no  ground  for  determining  the  mount  of  the  law.  (See  Beer,  Inscr. 
Vet.  ;  Credner,  Heidelb.  Jahrb.  1841,  p.  980  ;  Fr.  Tuch,  Versucheiner  Erklarung 
von  21  Sin.  Inschr.  ;  Kurtz  on  the  Covenant,  v.  iii.  p.  61.)  The  fact  then  seems  to 
be  that  these  three  authors  have  been  misunderstood,  and  are  really  in  harmony  with 
the  general  tradition,  indicated  even  in  the  name  Jebel  Musa,  the  mount  of  Moses. 

2.  And  they  set  out  from  Rephidim.  As  the  previous  verse  looks  back  to  the  events 
of  the  foregoing  chapter,  so  this  verse  looks  forward  to  the  continuance  of  the  narra- 
tive from  chap.  17.  Then  we  were  at  Rephidim,  and  now  we  dej)art  from  it.  The 
Wildertiess  of  ^inai  is  a  phrase  comprehensive  of  the  mount  of  the  lawgiving,  and  the 
surrounding  desert.  It  seems  to  be  coextensive  with  Horeb,  the  central  granitic 
block  of  mountain  and  glen  now  called  Jebel  et-Tur.  Before  the  mountain.  This  ex- 
pression signifies  over  against,  or  within  sight  of  it,  but  not  necessarily  close  by  or 
contiguous  to  the  mountain.  "We  may  imagine  the  main  body  of  the  encampment  to 
be  in  the  "Wady  es-Sheikh,  and  its  wings  or  straggling  outskirts  in  the  adjacent  glens, 
partly  it  may  be  in  the  Plain  es-Sebayeh,  and  generally  within  view  of  some  part 
of  Sinai. 

3-15.  The  directions  for  the  preparation  of  the  people.  And  Moses  went  up  unto 
God.  The  pillar  of  cloud  now  rested  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  was  conspicuous  before 
the  eyes  of  all  the  people.  The  going  up  of  Moses  unto  God  means,  not  that  he 
ascended  the  mountain,  which  is  not  here  asserted,  but  that  he  drew  nigh  to  God  in 
the  customary  way.  And  as  the  Lord  now  manifested  himself  on  a  mountain-top, 
the  approach  of  Moses  was  an  ascent,  even  though  he  only  reached  the  base.  This 
interpretation  of  the  words  is  manifest  from  the  following  sentence  :  "  And  the  Lord 
called  unto  him  out  of  the  mountain.''  This  implies  that  Moses  was  not  on  the  moun- 
tain, but  at  such  a  distance  from  the  Divine  presence  as  to  warrant  the  word  "  called  ' ' 
instead  of  "  sjjake." 

3-6.  The  words  of  the  Lord  here  contain  a  tendering  again  of  his  covenant  to  the 
people,  for  formal  and  final  acceptance.  They  indicate,  first,  the  party  who  are  to  en- 
ter into  covenant  with  God.  The  "  house  of  Jacob"  is  the  parallel  of  the  "sons  of 
Israel,"  the  former,  however,  pointing  to  their  natural,  the  latter  to  their  spiritual 


EXODUS  XIX.  3-6.  129 

relations  (see  Gen.  32  :  23-33).#  Secondly,  the  keeping  of  the  covenant  on  God's  part 
is  put  forward  in  a  short  and  striking  appeal  to  the  people.  Ye  have  seen.  This  was 
a  matter  of  personal  experience  with  them.  What  I  did  in  Mizraim.  The  eleven 
manifestations  of  his  power  on  their  behalf  in  that  country.  And  how  I  bare  you  on 
eagle's  wings.  In  the  twelfth  miracle,  at  the  Ked  Sea,  he  delivered  them  from  the 
perils  of  the  surrounding  waters  and  the  pursuing  Egyptians,  with  as  much  care  as 
the  eagle  takes  in  teaching  its  nestlings  to  make  the  first  essay  in  flight  among  the 
beetling  heights  where  it  has  its  abode  (Deut.  32  :  11).  The  parent  bird,  it  is  said, 
sweeps  gently  past  the  j'oung  ones  perched  on  a  ledge  of  rock,  and  when  one,  ventur- 
ing to  follow,  begins  to  sink  with  drooping  wing,  glides  underneath,  and  bears  it  aloft 
again  (Duns,  Biblical  Natural*  Science,  ii.  46).  This  beautiful  figure  strikingly  illus- 
trates the  patient  tenderness  with  which  the  Lord  labored  to  train  his  people  for  the 
escape  from  Egypt,  and  guarded  them  from  the  hazards  of  the  way.  And  brought 
you  unto  me,  brought  you  home  to  adoption  and  inheritance  with  your  God  and 
Father.  Thirdly,  the  acceptance  of  the  covenant  is  lovingly  proposed  to  the  people. 
If  ye  icill  obey,  obey  my  voice.  The  repetition  is  emphatic,  "if  ye  obey  me  promptly 
and  heartily."  And  keep  my  covenant,  the  parallel  of  the  previous  clause  ;  "be  faith- 
ful to  me,  as  I  have  been  to  you"  ;  a  touching  appeal  that  wins  a  ready  assent  from  a 
true  heart.  Lastly,  comes  the  promise  in  new  and  expressive  terms.  It  contains  the 
three  elements  of  salvation,  appropriation,  propitiation,  and  sanctification.  Here  for 
the  first  time  occur  three  remarkable  phrases,  which  become  household  words  in  the 
church.  They  throw  a  new  light  on  the  privilege  and  responsibility  of  the  believer. 
(1.)  A  peculiar  treasure  unto  me.  To  belong  to  God  is  an  inestimable  blessing.  How 
much  more  to  be  his  in  a  special  sense  above  all  others,  /IcdS  TrepiovaioS,  a  peculiar 
people  !  For  all  the  earth  is  mine.  This  is  to  explain  the  phrase  "  above  all  peoples." 
All  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  belong  to  God  by  right  of  creation  and  general  bene- 
faction ;  but  ye  belong  to  him,  over  and  above  all  this,  by  special  grace  and  covenant  ; 
and  out  of  his  free  grace  flows  to  you  all  that  is  comprised  in  remission,  redemption, 
and  regeneration.  This  part  of  the  promise  is  therefore  a  comprehensive  summary  of 
all  the  blessings  of  salvation.  (2.)  A  kingdom  of  priests.  This  is  a  pregnant  sentence. 
It  presupposes  the  people  to  be  themselves  the  objects  of  priestly  intercession  and 
royal  protection.  It  expressly  elevates  them  into  the  dignity  and  authority  of  perform- 
ing priestly  functions,  and  dispensing  royal  favors  to  others.  "  A  kingdom  of 
priests"  the  Septuagint  renders  by  l3aai2.ELov  lepdrevjua,  a  priesthood  of  kings.  This  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  a  kingdom  was  here  understood  to  be  a  community  of  persons 
invested  with  the  powers  of  sovereignty,  such  as  commanding,  judging,  defending, 
punishing,  and  rewarding,  and  bound  to  exercise  them,  under  God,  for  the  good  of 
mankind.  The  benignity  of  their  sway  is  indicated  by  the  facts  that  they  are  to  be 
priests  as  well  as  kings.  They  find  mankind  under  the  ban  of  disobedience,  the 
doom  of  death.  Their  office  calls  them  to  make  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  world, 
intercede  for  the  returning  penitent,  and  reconcile  him  to  God.  This  function  of  sub- 
lime beneficence  involves  questions  of  the  deepest  import  in  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind, which  do  not  meet  their  full  solution  until  we  approach  the  end  of  the  volume 
of  inspiration.  Who  can  independently  mediate  between  God  and  man  ?  What  can 
be  an  all-sufficient  propitiation  for  sin  ?  We  abstain  from  anticipating  the  answer  to 
these  questions,  which  does  not  belong  to  the  interpreter,  and  is  familiar  to  every 
reader  of  the  New  Testament.  *     Meanwhile,  we  contemplate  with  profound  admira- 

*  While,  here  and  elsewhere,  our  author  confines  himself  to  the  work  of  an  interpreter,  the  teacher 


130  PREPARATION^    FOR   THE    LAWGIVIKG. 

tion  tlie  nation  that  has  a  mission  to  discharge  these  benign  functions,  and  a  history 
pregnant  with  a  great  king,  priest,  and  sacrifice  that  will  be  able  to  accomplish  the 
salvation  of  the  soul.  3.  A  holy  nation.  Along  with  a  free  pardon  and  an  all-prevalent 
intercession,  the  third  requisite  for  salvation  is  a  sanctified  nature.  But  this  is 
introduced  here  not  merely  as  an  element  of  their  own  salvation,  but  as  a  qualifica- 
tion for  that  high  function  of  reigning  and  reconciling  which  they  are  to  exercise  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world.  There  is  a  beautiful  unity  given  to  this  ideal  when  we  re- 
gard Israel  as  the  son,  the  first-born  of  God  (Ex.  4  :  22).  This  son  is  the  king  and 
priest,  the  holy  one  of  the  present  passage.  This  collective  or  national  Israel  contains 
within  its  bosom  the  individual  and  actual  Son  of  God,  of  which  it  is  the  type  in  its 
regal  and  sacerdotal  dignity,  as  it  is  the  emblem  of  the  church  in  its  peace  and  purity. 
Thus  God  sets  before  his  chosen  people  a  new  ideal,  which  is  to  be  represented  for 
their  instruction  in  the  typical  institutions  of  the  ceremonial  law.  It  is  to  have  a 
twofold  realization  ;  on  the  one  hand  in  the  grateful  reception  of  salvation  from  age  to 
age  by  a  growing  number,  until  at  length  the  whole  of  mankind  are  gathered  into  this 
kingdom  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  in  the  gracious  dispensing  of  this  salvation  until  the 
Messiah  have  come  once  to  make  atonement  for  sin,  and  again  to  bring  in  the  new 
heavens  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness.  These  are  the  ivords  which 
thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel.  These  pregnant  words  are  to  take  root  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  bear  fruit  in  all  future  ages. 

7,  8.  The  consent  of  the  people  to  the  covenant  is  warm  and  prompt.  Moses  went 
and  called  for  the  elders  of  the  people.  Here  we  have  the  usual  order  of  communication 
with  the  people.  The  elders  are  the  representatives  of  the  people,  who  convey  to  them 
the  message  of  the  Lord  by  Moses,  and  act  as  their  spokesmen  in  replying  to  it 
(12:21).  And  all  the  people  answered  together.  They  gave  a  unanimous  response.  All 
that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  we  will  do.  They  freely  close  with  the  gracious  terms  of  the 
covenant.     Moses  reports  their  favorable  answer  to  the  Lord. 

9-13.  The  directions  to  the  people  to  sanctify  themselves,  and  keep  at  a  distance 
from  the  mountain.  Lo  1  come  unto  thee.  This  is  the  usual  phrase  for  an  intended 
action.  In  the  thick  cloud,  in  which  my  presence  is  usually  manifested.  That  the  people 
may  hear  wheyi  1  speak  with  thee.  The  Lord  does  not  demand  confidence  in  his  messen- 
ger and  minister  without  giving  abundant  evidence  of  his  commission.  He  had  before 
given  the  signs  of  the  rod  turned  into  a  serpent,  and  the  hand  changed  from  sound- 
ness to  leprosy,  and  again  to  soundness  ;  but  these  were  exhibited  before  the  elders  as 
the  representatives  of  the  people  (Ex.  4  :  29  31).  He  had  also  wrought  the  miracles 
of  the  deliverance  from  Egypt  by  the  hand  or  the  word  of  Moses  ;  but  many  of  these 
were  not  under  the  eye  of  the  people.  But  now  he  will  answer  Moses  in  the  audience 
of  all  the  people,  that  thej'-  may  believe  Ynxa.  forever.  The  Lord  knew  the  inconstancy 
of  the  people,  and  therefore  condescends  to  give  them  a  universal  and  personal  attes- 
tation to  the  authority  of  his  prophet  and  delegate.  Forever,  without  interruption. 
The  words  of  the  people.  This  was  the  proper  plan  for  introducing  the  formal  and 
unanimous  assent  of  the  people  to  the  covenant  of  the  Lord.  10.  Sanctify  them  to-day 
and  to-morrow.  These  days  were  supposed  to  be,  according  to  tradition,  the  fourth 
and  fifth  of  the  third  month.  It  is  probable  that  the  fifth  was  the  Sabbath,  or  closing 
day  of  the  seven  weeks  after  the  passover.  This  rests  on  the  twofold  assumption  that 
the  15th  of  Nisan  coincided  with  the  weekly  Sabbath,  and  that  the  first  month  con- 
will  not  fail  to  point  out,  in  such  passages  as  1  Pet.  2  : 9  and  others  of  the  like  character,  the  full  reali- 
zation of  the  Old  Testament  ideal  in  tiie  New  Testament  church,— J.  H. 


J 


EXODUS  XIX.  16-25.  131 

tained  twenty-nine,  and  the  second  thirty  days.  The  "sanctifying"  consisted  in 
washing  their  clothes  and  abstaining  from  conjugal  intercourse  (5  :  15  ;  Lev.  15  :  18)., 
These  serve  for  the  outward  form  of  sanctification  in  the  absence  of  any  ceremonial 
enactment.  11.  And  he  7^eady  for  the  third  day.*  According  to  the  supposition  already 
mentioned,  the  sixth  of  the  third  month  would  be  the  fiftieth  day  after  the  Sabbath 
in  the  seven  days  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  We  know  that  this  fiftieth  day 
was  afterward  one  of  the  three  great  annual  festivals  of  Israel  ;  and  as  the  other  two 
had  special  reference  to  momentous  events  in  the  history  of  the  people,  the  feast  of 
weeks  may  have  had  reference  to  the  giving  of  the  law.  This  affords  an  additional 
argument  in  favor  of  the  fiftieth  day  being  that  of  the  lawgiving.  12.  Set  bowids  to 
the  people.  These  bounds  were  at  some  distance  from  the  base  of  the  mountain. 
Beware  ye  of  going  up  to  the  mount.  This  forbids  not  merely  ascending  the  side,  but 
going  up  to  the  foot  of  the  mount.  Or  touching  the  border.  They  were  not  to  pass  the 
bounds  marked  out  by  Moses,  or  approach  the  border  or  skirt  of  the  mount.  There 
shall  not  a  hand  touch  him,  who  transgresses  the  bounds  and  touches  the  mount.  No 
one  shall  cross  the  bounds  prescribed  in  order  to  drag  him  back  or  punish  his  pre- 
sumption. He  shall  only  from  a  distance  be  stoned  or  shot  through.  Wliether  man  or 
beast.  The  owner  is  punished  for  his  carelessness  by  the  loss  of  his  beast.  But, 
even  apart  from  this  consideration,  the  awful  sanctity  of  the  divine  presence  is  not 
to  be  violated  by  any  unseemly  intrusion.  When  the  trumpet  soundeth  long.  When 
the  cornet  gives  a  long  and  swelling  note,  they  shall  go  up  to  the  mount.  As  we  are  said 
to  go  up  to  the  capital  of  a  country,  so  here  they  go  up  to  the  mount,  when  they  draw 
nigh  to  it  without  either  ascending  it  or  touching  its  skirts.  "They"  (nijsn)  ^^  ^^" 
pliatic  in  the  original,  and  refers  to  the  people  in  contrast  with  Moses,  who  was 
authorized  to  come  into  contact  with  the  mountain.  At  the  sounding  of  the  trumpet 
they  are  to  approach  to  the  boundaries  that  have  been  marked  out  ;  but  they  are  on 
no  account  and  at  no  time  to  proceed  farther.  14,  15.  And  Moses  went  doicn  from  the 
mount.  He  had  drawn  nigh,  but  not  necessarily  ascended  to  the  summit,  to  hold 
converse  with  God.  Sanctified  the  people,  gave  the  necessary  orders  for  their  sanctifi- 
cation.    Come  not  at  your  wives.     See  vs.  10  and  Lev.  15  :  18. 

16-25.  The  descent  of  the  Lord  on  Mount  Sinai.  A  thick  cloud.  A  heavy,  dark 
mass  of  clouds.  In  the  camp,  in  view  of,  but  at  a  considerable  distance  from,  the 
mountain.  We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  determine  further  than  the  text  warrants, 
even  with  all  the  light  that  modern  travellers  have  cast  upon  the  locality,  the  precise 
spot  in  which  the  people  were  encamped.  17.  And  Moses  brought  forth  the  people.  On 
the  given  signal  (vs.  13),  namely,  the  long  and  swelling  blast  of  the  trumpet,  Moses 
leads  forward  the  trembling  people  to  hear  the  giving  of  the  law.  We  must  here  bear 
in  mind  that  Moses  issued  his  commands,  as  the  general  of  a  great  army,  by  means  of 
the  elders  or  acknowledged  leaders  of  the  people  (vs.  17).  They  stood  at  the  nether 
part,  or  foot  of  the  mountain,  outside  of  the  barrier  which  Moses  had  erected  to  pre- 
vent intrusion.  A  scene  of  ineffable  grandeur  now  presented  itself  before  them. 
18.  All  asmoke.  The  disengaged  and  partly  unconsumed  matter  arises,  and  en- 
velopes, as  usual,  the  fire  in  which  the  Lord  descends.  The  whole  mountain  trembled 
greatly  with  the  reverberations  of  the  thunder.  19.  The  trumpet  sound  waxed  louder 
and  louder,   as  the  people  were  gathering  into  their  appointed  station  before  the 

*  Over  and  above  the  evidence  this  transaction  furnished  to  the  people  as  a  whole,  it  is  worth  notice 
that  Moses  committed  him^'oir  to  ihe  people  to  the  statement  that  on  the  third  day  the  Lord  would 
descend.    It  is  like  tlio  conlidciiCvj  (,f  i.'i  ^  great  Prophet,  "  the  third  day  he  will  rise  again.*"— J.  H. 


133  PREPARATION   FOR  THE   LAWGIVIl^G. 

mount.  The  origin  of  this  sound  we  leave,  as  the  text  does,  undetermined.  On  the 
sudden  silence  which  followed  this  awful  trumpet  blast,  Moses  spake,  and  God  answered 
him  by  a  voice,  by  an  audible  and  articulate  form  of  words.  This  is  the  fulfilment  of 
the  promise  made  in  vs.  9.  What  were  the  words  uttered  on  this  sublime  occasion 
we  cannot  venture  to  determine.  The  statement  may  refer  to,  or  at  least  include,  the 
whole  of  the  following  communications  so  far  as  they  were  audible  to  the  people. 
This  is  favored  by  the  discernible  pause  which  the  narrative  here  makes.  The  recog- 
nition of  this  pause  gives  point  and  emphasis  to  the  present  statement,  and  imparts 
a  solemn  stateliness  to  the  progress  of  the  narrative. 

20-25.  And  the  Lord  came  doim.  This  sublime  event  has  been  as  yet  only  incident- 
ally indicated  to  account  for  ("^^'j^j  ^jDIO  ^'  ^^)  *^^  smoking  of  Mount  Sinai.  It  now 
comes  forward  in  a  direct  statement  with  the  precise  intimation  that  the  Lord  de- 
scended on  the  top  of  the  mount.  He  now  called  to  Moses  (nt^XD^)  *^  S°  ^P  ^^  ^^^ 
top  of  the  mount.  Here  for  the  first  time  we  conceive  Moses  proceeded  farther  than 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  advanced  some  distance  on  its  slopes,  without  however 
reaching,  or  even  approaching,  the  actual  summit.  It  is  only  asserted  that  Moses 
went  up,  without  adding  how  far.  21.  Go  down,  char'ge  the  people.  We  may  conceive 
that  the  people  from  the  camp  were  pressing  forward  under  the  direction  of  their 
leaders,  and  that  there  was  some  danger  that  the  front  ranks  of  this  multitudinous 
host  should  be  urged  over  the  barriers  that  had  been  set  to  the  people.  Without  for 
a  moment  imagining  that  the  women  and  children  were  all  within  the  valleys  imme- 
diately around  the  mount,  we  can  easily  understand  that  the  vast  mass  of  deeply- 
agitated  men  would  need  the  reiterated  directions  of  their  supreme  commander  to 
prevent  any  involuntary  intrusion  from  the  pressure  in  the  rear.  In  these  circum- 
stances the  Lord  mercifully  sends  down  Moses  to  charge  the  people,  lest  they  break 
through  the  boundaries,  gaze  upon  that  which  no  eye  is  to  behold,  and  many  of  them 
perish.  22.  The  priests  also.  We  know  that  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  erected  altars 
and  offered  sacrifices  to  the  Lord,  and  that  Moses  informed  Pharoh  that  Israel  was 
commanded  to  go  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness  to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord. 
The  presumption  is,  that  there  were  some  among  them  who  were  appointed  to  act  as 
priests.  Every  head  of  a  family  killed  the  first  paschal  lamb  for  his  own  household, 
thereby  practically  evincing  that  the  people  were  all  kings  and  priests  unto  God. 
And  we  read  (24  : 5)  before  the  appointment  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  that  "  Moses  sent 
young  men  of  the  sons  of  Israel  who  offered  burnt-offerings."  Here  we  perceive  that 
the  nation  was  not  without  sacred  officers  who  discharged  the  functions  and  were 
entitled  to  the  name  of  priests.  Who  they  were  we  do  not  learn  from  the  narrative, 
probably  because  their  service  at  the  altar  was  merely  temporary,  until  Aaron  should 
be  called  to  the  priesthood.  Who  come  near  to  the  Lord  to  intercede  for  the  people. 
Sanctify  themselves,  keep  themselves  apart  outside  of  the  boundary,  observing  the  same 
rules  as  the  people.  These  occasional  priests  have  no  privileges  beyond  the  rest  of. 
Israel,  who  are  all  priests  unto  God.  23.  Moses  here  intimates  that  the  people  cannot 
touch  the  mountain  on  account  of  the  bounds  by  which  it  is  separated  and  sanctified. 
24.  But  the  Lord  directs  him  to  go  down,  and  prevent  the  people  and  the  priests, 
who  had  not  yet  got  any  special  charge,  from  breaking  through  the  barrier.  It  is  in- 
timated that  Moses  and  Aaron  are  to  come  up  to  the  mount.  But  this  seems  not  to 
have  taken  place  until  a  second  intimation  of  the  proper  time  is  given  (24  : 1).  25. 
Moses  accordingly  goes  down,  and  reiterates  the  charge  to  the  people  and  the  priests. 


EXODUS   XX.  133 


CHAP.  XX. — THE   MORAL   LAW,    AND   THE   ALTAR. 

2-17.  The  reader  of  the  original  will  observe  that  these  verses  are  provided 
with  a  double  accentuation,  the  one  referring  to  the  verses,  the  other  to  the  com- 
mandments, and  called  the  lower  and  upper  accent.  Where  only  one  accent 
stands,  the  two  coincide.  Where  a  principal  pause  of  the  one  concurs  with  a 
minor  pause  of  the  other,  a  double  vocalization  may  occur,  the  short  vowel  being 
lengthened  by  the  one  accent,  and  not  by  the  other.  For  the  same  cause  a  letter 
of  double  power  at  the  beginning  of  a  word  is  read  as  a  semi-vowel  with  the  one 
accentuation,  and  as  a  mute  with  the  other.  In  some  copies,  vs.  13,  14,  15,  are 
included  in  one.  Q  is  found  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  verse,  indicating  the  pri- 
mary division  of  the  Decalogue,  q  i^  found  at  the  end  of  vs.  6,  11,  13,  13,  14, 
15,  16,  and  after  the  first  clause  of  vs.  17,  marking  the  subdivisions.  This  is 
plainly  the  primary  form  of  the  Decalogue.  The  deviations  of  the  copy  in  Deut. 
5  will  be  best  considered  there.  In  some  copies  of  the  Sept.  vs.  13,  14,  15,  stand 
in  the  order  14,  15,  13. 

9.  nDX?/0  ^<^?'^)  iusiness,  ministry  ;  r.  un.  employ.  It  is  more  comprehensive 
than  nn^y  labor,  service,  bond-service  ;  r.  to  labor,  till  the  ground,  serve. 

13.  After  fjirjTipa  gov,  the  Sept.  has  Iva  ev  cot  yevriTaL,  koI,  corresponding  with  a 
similar  clause  in  Deut.  5  :  16. 

17.  At  the  end  of  this  verse  the  Sam.  Pent,  has  a  long  passage  agreeing 
mostly  with  Deut.  37  :  3-7.     It  is  not  found  in  Onk.  or  the  Sept. 

19.  The  Sam.  Pent,  here  omits  nj^Oti'Jl  IjlSy  iinX  131  ^^^  inserts  a  passage 
contained  in  Deut.  5  :  31-34.     It  is  not  followed,  however,  by  Onk.  or  the  Sept. 

XX.     1.  And  God  spake  all  these  words,  saying,  §  21. 

2.  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  who  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage. 

3.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me. 

4.  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  anything 
that  is  in  the  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water 
under  the  earth.  5.  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  them,  nor  serve  them  :  for  I  the 
Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  sons, 
upon  the  third  and  upon  the  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me  ;  6.  And  show- 
ing mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me  and  keep  my  commandments.         §  22. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain  ;  for  the  Lord  will 
not  acquit  hiiu  that  taketh  his  name  in  vain.  *^  32. 

8.  Kemember  the  Sabbath  day  to  hallow  it.  9.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do 
all  thy  work.  But  the  seventh  day  is  a  Sabbath  to  the  Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt 
not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid- 
servant, nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates  :  11.  For  in  six  days 
the  Lord  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested 
the  seventh  day  :  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath-day,  and  hallowed  it.     §  23. 

12.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  ;  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee.  §  24. 

13.  Thou  shalt  not  kill.  §  25. 

14.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery.  §  26. 

15.  Thou  shalt  not  steal.  §  27. 

16.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor.  §  28. 

17.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house  ;  §  29,  Thou  shalt  not  coVet  thy 
neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant,  nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor 
anything  that  is  thy  neighbor's.  §  30. 


134  THE   MORAL   LAW. 

18.  And  all  the  people  saw  the  thiinderings,  and  the  lightnings,  and  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet,  and  the  mountain  smoking  :  and  when  the  people  saw  it,  they  drew  back 
and  stood  afar  off.  19.  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will 
hear  ;  but  let  not  God  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die.  20.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people, 
Fear  not  ;  for  God  is  come  to  prove  you  ;  and  that  his  fear  may  be  before  you,  that 
ye  sin  not.  21.  And  the  people  stood  afar  off  :  and  Moses  drew  near  to  the  thick 
darkness  where  God  was.  §  31, 

22.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  Ye 
have  seen  that  I  have  spoken  with  you  from  heaven.  23.  Ye  shall  not  make  with  me 
any  idol  ;  gods  of  silver  or  gods  of  gold  shall  ye  not  make  unto  you.  24.  An  altar  of 
earth  thou  shalt  make  unto  me,  and  thou  shalt  sacrifice  thereon  thy  burntofferings, 
and  thy  peace-offerings,  thy  sheep  and  thine  oxen  :  in  every  place  where  I  record  my 
name  I  will  come  unto  thee  and  bless  thee.  25.  And  if  thou  make  me  an  altar  of 
stones,  thou  shalt  not  build  them  with  hewing  ;  for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  tool  upon  it, 
thou  dost  pollute  it.  26.  And  thou  shalt  not  go  up  by  steps  unto  mine  altar,  that  thy 
nakedness  be  not  discovered  thereon.  18.  ^  *1[  ^  33. 

The  chapters  20-23  contain  that  code  of  laws  which  is  called  the  book  of  the  cove- 
nant (24  : 7).  It  is  clearly  distinguishable  into  two  parts — the  general  principles  of 
morality  common  to  all  mankind,  and  the  special  enactments  pertaining  to  the  people 
of  God.  The  former  are  called  "  the  words  of  the  Lord,"  which  he  spake  with  an 
audible  voice,  and  wrote  upon  the  two  tables  of  stone  (24  : 3  ;  20  : 1  ;  24  :  12).  In 
reference  to  their  number,  they  are  called  the  ten  words  or  commandments  (34  :  28). 
The  latter  are  described  as  the  "judgments,"  or  determinations  of  right  between  man 
and  man.  These  are  communicated  to  Moses,  by  whom  they  are  delivered  to  the 
people  by  word  of  mouth,  and  also  in  writing  for  their  permanent  guidance.  The  ten 
commandments,  with  certain  arrangements  preliminary  to  the  special  legislation,  are 
contained  in  the  present  chapter. 

1-17.  The  Decalogue.*  The  Masoretic  mark  for  an  open  section  at  the  end  of  the 
seventh  verse  indicates  the  primary  division  of  this  grand  compend  of  law  in  the  esti- 
mation of  these  venerable  annotators.  If  the  principle  of  division  be  the  essence  of 
the  Deity,  this  distribution  is  undoubtedly  correct.  The  previous  paragraph,  referring 
to  the  unity,  spirituality,  and  deity  of  God,  which  belong  to  the  essence  of  his  nature, 
is  of  universal  and  eternal  moment,  and  is  thus  fundamentally  distinguished  from  the 
following  one  regarding  the  Sabbath  and  the  relative  duties  of  men,  which  are  inci- 
dental to  that  effect  of  his  creative  action  to  which  man  belongs.  The  former  of  these 
paragraphs  the  authors  of  the  Massorah  subdivide  into  two  close  sections,  and  the 
latter  into  eight.  The  first  commandment  thus  apparently  includes  verses  2-6,  on  the 
principle  that  polytheism  and  idolatry  are  identical,  or  two  modes  of  apostasy  from 
the  one  true  God.  But  in  fact,  these  two  are  not  less  distinct  from  one  another  than 
each  of  them  is  from  that  mode  of  degrading  God  which  is  noted  in  the  seventh  verse. 
The  true  principle  is,  that  there  are  three  ways  of  dishonoring  God,  or  robbing  him 
of  his  glory— the  first  referring  to  his  unity,  the  second  to  his  spirituality,  and  the 
third  to  his  deity.  Hence  vs.  2,  3  must  be  regarded  as  the  first  commandment  ;  vs. 
4-6  as  the  second  ;  and  vs.  7  as  the  third.  The  Talmud,  the  Targum  of  Johnathan, 
several  Jewish  Kabbis,  Peter  Martyr,  and  others,  hold  vs.  2  to  be  the  first  command- 

*  In  the  previous  chapter  the  Lord  had  put  it  to  the  people  :  Do  ye  desire  to  be  in  covenant  with 
me  ?  They  answered  affirmatively.  Here  the  law  of  the  Decalogue  comes  in,  not  arbitrarily,  but  in 
natural  sequence  to  this  agreement.  A  people  in  covenant  with  me,  says  God,  will  keep  my  words. 
It  is  the  same  great  principle  in  accordance  with  which  men  in  covenant  with  God,  through  Christ, 
endeavor  to  keep  his  commandments.  The  religion  of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  same  in  substance 
with  that  of  the  New.— J.  H. 


EXODUS  XX.    1-17.  135 

menfc.  But  the  second  and  third  verses  are  plainly  distinguished  as  the  positive  and 
negative  sides  of  the  one  commandment.  The  propriety  of  this  threefold  subdivision 
is  further  demonstrated  by  its  obviating  the  necessity  of  subdividing  the  seventeenth 
verse  into  two  commandments,  in  order  to  make  up  the  number  ten.  If  these  two 
errors  of  subdivision  be  corrected,  "  the  ten  words"  are  divided  into  three  and  seven 
on  a  tenable  and  intelligible  principle — the  three  referring  to  the  immutable  essence 
of  G-od,  the  seven  originally  to  man,  the  intelligent  part  of  the  six  days'  creation,  and 
ultimately  to  the  people  whom  God  has  taken  for  his  peculiar  treasure.  It  is  well 
known  that  three  has  also  a  typical  or  mystical  reference  to  God,  and  seven  to  the 
church.  If  the  two  tables  of  stone  were  to  contain,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  same 
quantity  of  matter  without  breaking  up  a  commandment,  the  Masoretic  division  makes 
the  nearest  approach  to  this  arrangement,  the  numbers  of  letters  in  each  portion  being 
respectively  (errors  excepted)  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  and  three  hundred  and 
forty-three  ;  whereas,  if  the  commandment  concerning  the  Sabbath,  containing  two 
hundred  and  three  letters,  were  transferred  to  the  former  side,  the  numbers  would  be 
four  hundred  and  eighty  and  one  hundred  and  forty. 

The  Masoretic  division,  however,  though  it  have  a  basis  in  the  structure  of  the  text, 
is  founded  on  the  idea  of  God,  and  not  on  the  nature  of  law.  It  has  a  deep  meta- 
physical import  ;  but  it  regards  the  document  before  us  rather  as  a  chapter  of  philoso- 
phy than  a  compend  of  law.  Considered  as  a  summary  of  law,  this  document  bears 
on  it  only  one  obvious  principle  of  primary  division,  namely,  that  of  the  party  to 
whom  the  duty  is  owed.  In  this,  its  natural  aspect,  it  contains  two  great  divisions — 
the  duty  of  man  to  God,  in  four  commandments,  and  the  duty  of  man  to  man,  in  the 
remaining  six.  It  is  strange  that  Augustine,  having  adopted  this  primary  division, 
yet  retained  the  two  glaring  faults  of  subdivision  to  which  we  have  already  adverted. 
In  this  way,  though  making  his  primary  division  at  the  end  the  eleventh  verse, 
he  still  conceives  that  there  are  three  in  the  first  table  and  seven  in  the  second.  In 
this  he  has  been  followed  by  the  Latin  and  Lutheran  Churches.  He  generally  makes 
the  prohibition  to  covet  another  man's  wife  the  ninth  commandment,  according  to 
the  arrangement  of  Deut.  5  :  21  ;  in  which  he  is  not  followed  by  these  churches. 
Other  Jewish  and  Christian  interpreters,  including  Philo,  Josephus,  Irenaeus, 
Origen,  Jerome,  the  Eastern  and  Reformed  Churches,  agree  in  correcting  the  errors 
of  subdivision  which  are  exhibited  in  the  Masoretic  text.  The  primary  division 
here  under  consideration  was  adopted  not  only  by  Augustine,  but  by  Origen,  and 
subsequently  by  Calvin  and  his  followers,  and  hence  appears  not  only  in  the  Latin 
and  Lutheran,  but  also  in  the  British  Churches  and  the  documents  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  of  Divines. 

A  third  ground  of  primary  division  is  the  relation  of  equality  or  inequality  between 
the  parties  to  whom  the  duties  refer.  In  this  respect  the  Decalogue  is  divided  into 
duties  to  superiors  and  duties  to  equals.  Here  the  father  and  mother  are  associated 
with  God  as  superiors,  and  all  men  including  j)arents  are  classed  together  as  equals. 
The  point  of  division  is  carried  forward  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  verse,  and  each 
table  contains  five  of  the  "  ten  words."  This  is  the  primary  division  of  Philo,  Jose- 
phus, and  the  modern  Jews,  of  the  Eastern  and  some  Reformed  Churches.  It  has 
the  advantage  of  giving  a  numerically  equal  partition  of  the  ten  commandments,  and 
of  bringing  out  into  prominence  the  dignity  of  parents  as  the  natural  representatives 
of  God  to  their  children.  Nevertheless  it  appears  to  be  a  more  superficial  ground  of 
distribution  than  either  of  the  others.     Between  God  and  man  the  line  of  demarca- 


136  THE   MORAL   LAW. 

tion  is  much  more  trenchant  than  between  superiors  and  inferiors  when  men  are 
found  on  both  sides. 

The  mere  numerical  equality  of  the  two  tables  is  a  consideration  of  no  moment  ; 
and  the  dignity  of  parents  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  position  of  the  lifth  com- 
mandment in  the  Decalogue.  For  these  reasons  we  adhere  to  the  second  of  the 
fundamental  divisions  described,  as  the  most  logical  and  suitable  for  common  use. 
Which  of  them  was  exhibited  on  the  two  tables  of  stone  we  need  not  speculate. 
But  it  is  obvious  that  the  second  corres]ponds  with  that  grand  classification  of  all  law 
which  our  Lord  brings  out  into  conspicuous  prominence  from  the  Old  Testament, 
"  the  first  and  great  commandment,"  to  "  love  the  Lord  thy  God  "  with  all  thy  powers, 
and  the  second  like  unto  it,  to  "  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  "  (Matt.  22  :  35-40). 

1.  And  God.  The  use  of  this  name  of  God  here  (the  Everlasting,  Eternal, 
Almighty)  intimates  that  the  fundamental  principles  of  law  have  their  standing  in 
the  abstract  relations  of  theoretic  truth  antecedent  to  the  actual  creation  of  a  universe 
of  things.  Spake.  Whatever  media,  whether  elementary  or  angelic,  God  was  pleased 
to  employ  on  this  occasion,  it  is  manifest  that  the  speech  was  his  own,  not  merely  as 
to  the  words  spoken,  but  as  to  the  articulate  sounds  actually  perceived  by  the  ear. 
We  are  aware  that  vibrations  of  the  air  are  the  usual  medium  for  affecting  the  sense 
of  hearing,  and  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  these  were  employed  on  the  present 
occasion.  We  are  informed  that  Moses  stood  between  the  Lord  and  the  people  "  to 
show  them  the  word  of  the  Lord  "  ;  yet  it  is  expressly  said  that  it  was  the  Lord  that 
talked  with  them  face  to  face  in  the  mount  (Deut.  5  : 4,  5).  It  appears  from  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  (Deut.  33  : 2,  3  ;  Ps.  68  :  18  ;  Acts  7  :  53  ;  Gal.  3  :  19  ;  Heb.  2  : 2) 
that  angels  were  present  and  active  at  the  promulgation  of  the  law.  The  passages  in 
the  Old  Testament  merely  intimate  their  presence.  Those  in  the  New  point  to  some 
kind  of  agency.  The  phrase  of  Stephen  (f  Aa/^ere  rov  vouov  eJc  iharayd^  ayye'kuv)  "  re- 
ceived the  law  by  the  arrangements"  or  ministry  "  of  angels,"  may  be  regarded  as 
equivalent  to  that  of  Paul  {(^laraydc  6i'  ayyfAuv)  "  arranged  "  or  ministered  "  through 
angels."  Attention  is  to  be  paid  to  the  preposition  did,  "  through,"  which  is  used  in 
the  New  Testament  to  denote  the  medium  or  intermediate  agent,  while  the  ultimate 
or  proper  agent  is  introduced  by  vito,  "by"  (Matt.  1  :  22  ;  2  :  15  ;  22  :  31  ;  Acts  2,  16, 
28  :  25  ;  Kom.  1:2).  This  serves  to  elucidate  the  historical  description  of  the  law  in 
Heb.  2  :  2  (6  Ji'  ayyeluv  la7ir]Bel<3  loyoS),  "  the  word  spoken  through  angels."  It  is  plain 
from  the  narrative  now  before  us  that  God  was  the  actual  speaker,  in  accordance  with 
which  the  angels  are  here  described  as  intermediate  agents  in  the  accomplishment 
of  the  act.  We  recognize  the  instrumentality  of  the  atmospheric  vibi'ations  in  the 
formation  of  articulate  sounds.  And  as  we  notice  the  agency  of  the  lightning  flash 
in  exciting  those  reverberations  which  produce  the  inarticulate  sound  of  thunder,  we 
may  be  prepared  to  hear  of  the  agency  of  angels  who  are  spirits  and  ministers  who 
are  a  flaming  fire  (Ps.  104  : 4),  in  awakening  or  regulating  those  discrete  pulsations 
which  constitute  the  articulate  utterance  of  speech.  How  this  was  effected,  what  was 
the  arranging  or  dispensing  part  of  the  angels  in  this  great  drama,  as  it  is  not  revealed 
we  do  not  pretend  to  say.  But  as  the  performer  is  the  source  of  the  music  notwith- 
standing the  concurrence  of  the  bellows-blower,  the  organic  pipes,  and  the  ambient 
air,  so  we  can  understand  that  God  was  the  real  speaker  of  the  ten  words,  notwith- 
standing the  intervention  of  the  dispensing  angels  and  the  vocal  atmosphere.  All 
these  words.  This  oral  communication  consists  of  ten  words  or  axioms  of  moral 
truth,  that  form  a  complete  and  orderly  whole,  and  afford  a  broad  basis  for  a  system 


EXODUS  XX.  3,  4.  137 

of  ethical  science.  It  is  composed  in  tlie  scriptural  method  of  stating  not  a  bare  ab- 
stract principle,  but  a  circumstantial  concrete  example,  embodying  the  principle, 
ruling  all  like  cases,  and  making  a  deeper  and  stronger  impression  on  the  mind.  It 
presents  the  law,  also,  in  the  aspect  of  righteousness  rather  than  goodness  (Rom. 
5  :  7),  because  it  is  designed  to  restrain  those  who  have  already  fallen  into  disobedi- 
ence. And  hence  it  generally  takes  a  negative  form,  and  deals  in  prohibitions  rather 
than  requirements.  It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  the  prohibition  involves 
the  requirement,  and  we  find  that  the  requirement  itself  is  given  when  it  admits  of 
equal  or  greater  brevity  of  expression  than  the  prohibition. 

THE  riKST   COMMANDMENT. 

3,  4.  The  more  closely  we  examine  these  two  verses,  the  more  surely  will  we  come 
to  the  conclusion  of  the  Jewish  Eabbis,  that  the  former  is  an  essential  part  of  the 
first  commandment.  It  states  a  positive  fact  in  the  conviction  and  for  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  people,  to  which  the  latter  verse  merely  adds  the  negative  precept 
that  gives  strict  precision  and  exclusiveness  to  the  previous  statement.  The  latter 
verse  presupposes  the  former,  and  is  incomplete  without  it.  The  consequent  "  thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods"  needs  the  antecedent  "  thou  hast  me."  Yet  in  the  admira- 
ble economy  of  this  address,  the  former  of  these  verses  serves  at  the  same  time  for 
the  preface  to  the  whole.  It  has  therefore  a  twofold  bearing  on  what  follows — it  is  an 
integral  part  of  the  first  commandment,  and  it  is  an  introduction  to  the  whole  Deca- 
logue. 

As  an  introduction  to  the  whole  law  this  verse  identifies  the  parties  to  the  covenant 
in  the  present  instance.  These  are  Jehovah  and  his  people.  It  also  lays  down  the 
only  solid  foundation  of  all  obligation  to  keep  this  law.  This  is  threefold  :  (1.)  He 
who  commands  is  the  Loed,  Jehovah,  the  Self-existent,  the  Creator,  the  absolute 
Author,  and  therefore  Governor,  of  all  persons  and  things.  This  is  the  primary  rock 
on  which  all  authority  on  his  part  and  all  obligation  on  ours  rest.  It  is,  moreover, 
not  limited  in  its  range,  but  coextensive  with  the  universe  of  responsible  being.  It 
is  therefore  the  fitting  term  to  stand  at  the  head  of  a  code  of  law.  (2.)  He  is  thy  God. 
Here  "  thy"  is  the  characteristic  word.  "  God  "  (cin^^)  *^®  Everlasting,  Almighty, 
antecedent  to  all  creation,  is  presupposed  as  common  to  the  whole  definition  of  the 
great  Being.  The  possessive  word  "  thy"  points  to  the  covenant  between  God  and  his 
people.  When  taken  in  the  utmost  depth  of  its  meaning  it  involves  two  things  : 
first,  That  God  has  chosen  them  to  be  his  people  ;  and  second,  That  he  has  sent  his 
Spirit  into  their  hearts,  in  consequence  of  which  they  have  taken  him  to  be  their 
God.  He  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  become  capable  of  spiritual  acts.  This  is  the 
sole  ground  of  human  ability  to  keep  the  commandments.  To  have  God  in  this  full 
sense  for  our  God  is,  therefore,  the  meet  preparation  for  doing  his  will.  He  is  the 
Regenerator.  He  gives  ability.  Ability  begets  obligation.  Will  tenders  obedience. 
3.)  He  is  the  Redeemer.  He  has  brought  his  people  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  out  of 
the  house  of  bondage.  This  in  the  manner  of  Scripture  and  of  Providence  is  the  earnest 
and  the  guarantee  of  their  deliverance  from  all  other  and  greater  kinds  of  bondage. 
The  present  is  the  type  of  a  grander  future.  We  must  descend  the  stream  of  revela- 
tion to  the  New  Testament  before  we  fathom  the  depths  of  this  great  deliverance.  • 
But  the  redemption  from  Egypt  is  the  immediate  benefit  before  the  minds  of  this 
people.     It  obviously  binds  them  to  gratitude  and  devotedness.     Thus  the  api)eal  of 


138  THE    MOKAL   LAW. 

God  touches  the  inmost  springs  of  their  moral  nature,  and  draws  them  by  the  three- 
fold tie  of  creation,  sanctification,  and  redemption,  to  reverence,  obedience,  and 
affection. 

The  attentive  observer  will  note  the  unity  of  the  party  addressed,  indicated  by  the 
singular  pronoun  "  thy,  thee."  God's  people  are  one  in  a  very  profound  sense,  as  they 
have  one  Creator,  Eegenerator,  and  Kedeemer  (Gen.  17  : 7  ;  Ex.  4  :  22  ;  Gal.  3  :  16  ; 
Eph.  4  :  2-16).  But  this  pointed  form  of  address  at  the  same  time  brings  home  the 
obligation  of  the  law  of  heaven  to  the  individual  as  well  as  the  community.  It  is  an- 
other instance  of  the  happy  choice  of  words  in  this  piece. 

As  the  affirmative  part  of  the  first  commandment  this  verse  admonishes  the  people 
that  Jehovah,  the  Creator,  who  has  singled  them  out  as  his  own,  and  has  redeemed 
them  from  bondage,  is  their  God.  This  is  itself  the  root  of  all  obligation,  and  this 
obligation  is  expressed  in  the  word  "thy,"  which  asserts  the  connection  between 
creature  and  Creator.  This  brings  out  the  relation  of  right,  God  had  the  right  of 
creation  to  man,  and  he  has  the  right  of  regeneration  and  redemption  to  his  people. 
Man  has,  inherently,  no  right  to  anything.  These  two  propositions  are  the  basis  of 
all  eternal  law.  God  made  a  grant  to  man  on  his  creation  with  a  necessary  reserve 
(see  on  Gen.  2  :  15-17).  Man  infringed  on  this  reserve  under  temptation,  and  so  for- 
feited the  divine  grant.  Yet  God  bears  with  man,  proclaims  his  mercy,  and  accepts 
the  returning  penitent  who  trusts  in  his  word.  It  is  obvious  that  such  come  under 
new  obligations  to  the  Almighty,  reinforcing  the  great  principles  of  moral  truth. 

3.  The  first  commandment  in  its  negative  form  refers  to  the  unity  of  God,  It  en- 
joins the  owning  of  this  unity.  It  is  therefore  against  polytheism.  This  precept  is 
of  universal  obligation.  The  idea  of  God,  the  Everlasting  and  Almighty  Jehovah, 
the  Creator  and  Upholder,  involves  in  its  very  nature  the  idea  of  unity  ;  and  so  this 
negative  verse  is  implied  in  the  affirmative  one  that  precedes.  But  the  nations  had 
lost  the  consciousness  of  their  own  unity  as  a  race,  and  with  this  the  consciousness  of 
the  unity  of  their  common  Creator.  Each  princiisality,  each  town,  and  at  length  each 
family,  began  to  regard  the  god  of  its  erring  fancy  as  different  in  individuality  from 
that  of  others.  The  step  was  easy  to  the  recognition  of  gods  many  and  lords  many. 
Hence  it  became  necessary  to  add  the  definite  exclusion  of  all  other  imaginable  ob- 
jects of  worship  to  the  express  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  God.  The  original  form 
of  the  expression  is  here  worthy  of  attention,  "  There  shall  not  be  to  thee  other  gods 
upon  my  face."  Here  it  is  demanded  that  the  non-existence  of  other  gods  be  recog- 
nized. This  presupposes  the  affirmative  of  such  non-existence.  Such  gods  are 
C^pi")^  nonentities.  nTT'  K^  "there  shall  not  be,"  is  directly  opposed  to  htIN 
"  I  Am,"  and  to  ^'if]i  the  Author  of  existence  (3  :  14  ;  6  :  3),  the  exclusive  names  of 
the  God  of  creation  and  of  covenant.  Before  me  is  literally"  upon  my  face."  It  sup- 
poses those  other  gods  to  be  set  up  before  the  true  God  as  antagonists  in  the  eye  of 
God,  and  as  casting  a  shade  over  his  eternal  being  and  incommunicable  glory  in  the 
eye  of  the  worshipper. 

THE   SECOND   COMMANDMENT. 

4-6.  The  second  commandment  refers  to  the  worship  of  God.     It  guards  the  imma-    j 
teriality  or  spirituality  of  his  nature.     It  opposes  idolatry,  that  is,  the  worship  of  an 
idol  or  image  of  God,  or  of  God  through  an  idol.     We  are  not  to  make,   worship,  or 
serve  an  idol.     Any  graven  image.     This  is  a  carved  image  of  stone   or  wood.     Any 


EXODUS  XX.  4-6.  139 

likeness.  The  word  njlDD  ^^notes  any  form  presented  to  the  eye  (Num.  12  :  8  ;  Job 
4  :  16),  and  therefore  includes  all  sorts  of  pictures  as  well  as  images.  It  is  probable 
that  the  Israelites  were  acquainted  with  the  pictorial  representations  of  idols  in  Egypt. 
At  all  events,  the  specific  instance  involves  the  general  rule,  that  every  kind  of  visible 
similitude  is  to  be  avoided  in  the  worship  of  the  invisible  God,  In  heaven  above.  The 
Egyptians  had  images  of  celestial,  terrestrial,  and  aquatic  objects  of  worship  (Wilkin- 
son). The  loater  under  the  earih.  It  is  important  to  notice  that  "  under"  here  means 
"  lower  in  level, "  lest  the  Scriptures  be  accused  of  propounding  the  theory  that  the 
interior  of  our  sphere  is  filled  with  water.  5.  Fo?'.  The  reason  here  assigned  applies 
equally  to  the  first  and  second  commandments,  and  warrants  the  Masoretes  in  placing 
the  verses  (2-6)  containing  them  in  close  contiguity.  A  jealous  God.  The  passions  of 
a  moral  being  have  their  right  as  well  as  their  wrong  use.  Hence  anger,  jealousy, 
hatred,  and  revenge  are  ascribed  to  God,  not  as  passions,  but  as  the  feelings  of  a  holy 
being  in  regard  to  that  which  is  evil  (Deut.  32  :  21,  22,  35).  As  the  Judge  of  the  uni- 
verse, God  has  the  supreme  right  not  only  to  entertain  these  feelings,  but  also  to  carry 
out  their  holy  behests  in  the  administration  of  his  everlasting  dominion.  This  is  the 
first  distant  allusion  to  the  semblance  of  the  covenant  between  God  and  his  people  to  a 
marriage  contract.  Visiting  the  iniquity,  pursuing  and  overtaking  the  offender  with 
condign  punishment.  There  is  significance  in  the  phrase  "  visiting  the  iniquity,"  as  it 
shows  that  the  sons  are  not  involved  in  the  penalty  if  they  are  not  found  in  the  in- 
iquity of  their  fathers.  The  iniquity  here  spoken  of  is  that  of  polytheism  or  idolatry, 
of  having  or  making  any  other  God.  For  the  idol,  or  the  being  it  represents,  is  not 
the  true  God,  but  another  god,  after  the  fashion  of  a  vain  imagination  (Rom.  1  :  21-25). 
He  that  makes  and  worships  an  idol  has  lost  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  This 
iniquity  is  called  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers,  inasmuch  as  it  originates  with  them,  and 
is  only  perpetuated  in  the  sons  who  adhere  to  it.  The  history  of  the  world  shows  that 
the  ungodliness  of  the  fathers  is,  as  a  rule  of  fallen  nature,  followed  by  the  sons. 
Only  grace  interrupts  the  succession  of  sin.  Upon  the  sons^  upon  the  third  and  upon 
the  fourth  generation.  This  is  a  timely  guard  against  a  common  error  to  which  men  have 
been  prone  in  all  ages,  namely,  that  the  opinions  and  customs  of  their  forefathers, 
even  though  they  be  wrong,  are  an  excuse  or  justification  for  the  'sons  walking  in  the 
same  errors  of  judgment  and  conduct.  The  fathers  will  have  to  account  for  their  own 
iniquity,  not  only  as  men,  but  as  fathers  setting  a  bad  example  to  their  household. 
But  the  sons  who,  on  arriving  at  the  exercise  of  a  natural  judgment,  walk  in  the  same 
iniquity  will  be  treated  as  responsible  beings,  and  visited  for  the  iniquity  which  they 
have  made  their  own.*  Many  evil  consequences,  indeed,  such  as  poverty,  disease,  and 
infamy,  befall  the  children  of  ungodly  and  vicious  parents.  But  a  profounder  truth 
is  taught  in  this  passage,  and  the  example  of  it  was  patent  before  the  eyes  of  the  audi- 
ence assembled  in  Horeb.  The  forefathers  of  the  Egyptians  had  departed  from  the 
living  God,  and  devised  for  themselves  the  eight  gods  of  the  first  order,  the  twelve  of 
the  second,  and  the  seven  of  the  third,  besides  their  countless  modifications  and  sub- 
'divisions  of  the  divine  essence.  Their  sons  of  the  existing  generation  not  only  fol- 
lowed, but  outstript,  their  fathers  in  the  abominations  of  superstition  and  deification  ; 
they  contemptuously  ignored  the  true  God,  whom  their  fathers  acknowledged  (Gen. 
41),  and  trampled  upon  his  people.     In  this  instance  the  Lord  had  signally  visited  the 

*  They  are,  moreover,  doubly  guilty,  Ijecanpe  they  disregard  the  protests  of  God  Almighty  in  his 
providence,  against  the  sins  of  iheir  forefathers.  Each  generation  has  more  light  on  this  point  than 
its  predecessor,  if  it  will  but  be  willing  to  see.— J.  H. 


140  THE   MORAL   LAW. 

iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  sons  in  the  ten  plagues,  and  in  the  overwhelming  of 
their  hosts  in  the  Eed  Sea.  Upon  all  the "  gods  of  Egypt  he  had  executed  judgment, 
and  caused  the  Egyptians  to  know  and  acknowledge  that  he  was  the  Lord  (7:5;  8:8; 
9  :27  ;  12  :  12). 

With  these  tremendous  judgments  of  the  past  few  months  still  fresh  upon  their 
memories,  the  awe-struck  hearers  would  have  a  vivid  conception  of  what  was  meant 
by  the  jealous  God  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generation.  The  despotic  and  barbarous  measures  of  the  new  king  that 
knew  not  Joseph  had  been  commenced  in  the  time  of  Moses's  father,  and  therefore 
about  four  generations  from  the  time  then  present.  Each  generation  had  only  been 
advancing  in  the  severity  with  which  they  oppressed  the  chosen  people  of  the  Lord, 
until  their  cry  ascended  to  heaven,  and  the  Lord  interposed  for  their  vindication. 
Overwhelming  was  the  visitation  for  their  aggravated  and  infatuated  hostility  to  God 
and  his  people.  God  admonishes  the  world  by  terrible  examples  of  his  righteous  in- 
dignation ;  and  then  pauses  to  leave  men  the  full  exercise  of  their  free-agency.  0/ 
them  that  hate  me.  To  have  or  to  make  another  god  is  to  hate  the  true  God.  Here  let 
it  be  observed  that  in  the  estimate  of  God  there  is  no  difference  between  forsaking 
him  for  another  and  hating  him.  The  negative  state  of  indifference  to  him  or  incli- 
nation to  another  necessarily  involves  the  positive  state  of  hatred  to  the  true  God. 
Nothing  can  be  more  base  or  blamable  than  to  forsake  the  verj^  Author  of  our  being 
and  all  our  blessings  for  the  mere  phantom  of  a  delusive  imagination.  It  is  the  special 
temptation  of  descendants,  whether  in  the  nation  or  the  family,  to  follow  their  an- 
cestors in  apostasy  from  God  or  the  truth  which  he  has  revealed  concerning  himself 
and  his  ways.  Hence  at  the  birth  of  this  nation  whom  he  has  chosen  for  himself  he 
lifts  up  a  monitory  voice,  reminding  them  of  the  judgment  of  Egypt,  and  warning 
them  to  beware  of  incurring  a  like  visitation.  To  allow  free  scope  for  that  voluntary 
return  to  confession  and  obedience  which  can  alone  be  pleasing  to  God,  he  may  in 
long-suffering  withhold  the  full  force  of  his  correcting  hand  even  to  the  fourth  gen- 
eration. But  a  nation  or  a  family  that  neglects  opportunities  of  knowing  God  and 
his  mercy  need  not  expect  to  be  long  without  the  dread  experience  of  his  power  and 
justice. 

6.  And  showing  mercy.  Mercy  is  that  form  of  the  divine  goodness  which  reason 
dare  not  affirm  and  revelation  alone  can  proclaim.  And-  to  show  mercy  or  do  kind- 
ness, not  to  requite  merit  or  reward  righteousness,  is  the  most  favorable  language 
that  can  be  employed  concerning  any  portion  of  a  fallen  race.  It  forms  the  contrast 
here  to  "  visiting  iniquity."  Unto  thousands.  Here  is  a  cheering  prospect  and  a  sweet 
assurance  to  godly  parents.  "  Thousands"  may  be  fairly  understood  to  mean  the 
thousandth  generation,  and  therefore  to  intimate  the  possibility,  if  not  the  proba- 
bility, of  piety  becoming  hereditary,  or  being  perpetuated  in  the  given  line  to  the 
end  of  time.  And  the  comforting  promise  is,  that  God  will  never  fail  to  show  mercy 
to  all  successive  generations  that  humbly  and  thankfully  own  him  for  their  God. 
We  observe  how  mercy  rejoices  over  judgment  :  God  visits  iniquity  unto  the  fourth 
generation  ;  he  shows  mercy  unto  the  thousandth.  Of  them  that  love  me  and  keep  my 
commandments.  The  objects  of  the  divine  mercy  are  those  who  have  the  Lord  for 
their  God,  and  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  They  meet  his  mercj^  with  an 
earnest,  confiding  gratitude  ;  and  this  feeling  displays  itself  in  "  loving  him  and 
keeping  his  commandments."  There  is  an  intense  interest  connected  with  the  ex- 
pression "  them  that  love  me."     It  plainly  intimates  that  those  who  have  no  other 


EXODUS  XX.   7.  141 

God  before  tlie  true  God,  and  make  no  other  God  beside  him,  are  those  who  at  the 
same  time  love  him.  It  proves  that  the  negative  quality  of  not  forsaking  the  true 
God  is  understood  to  imply  the  positive  quality  of  being  faithful  to  him  and  loving 
him.  This  gives  a  new  character  to  the  whole  Decalogue.  It  now  becomes  not  a 
mere  negative  law  of  righteousness,  but  a  positive  law  of  love.  This  principle  apply- 
ing to  the  first  two  precepts  will  extend  to  the  whole.  Besides,  if  we  love  him  that 
begat,  we  shall  love  those  who  are  begotten  ;  and  therefore  love  to  God  will  naturally 
result  in  love  to  all  his  creatures.  This  closing  sentence  would  sink  deep  into  the 
hearts  of  those  reverential  auditors  in  Horeb's  glens.  It  forms  the  bright  counter- 
part to  the  dark  menace  conveyed  in  the  preceding  one.  As  the  former  has  its  dread 
exemplification  in  the  judgments  executed  on  Egypt,  so  the  latter  finds  its  hopeful 
illustration  in  the  chosen  race.  Those  who  then  stood  before  the  mount  of  God  were 
about  the  tenth  generation  from  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful.  The  faith  of 
their  great  forefather  was  still  the  profession  of  all,  and  the  inward  experience  of  a 
goodly  number,  in  that  vast  multitude.  And  God  had  been  unchangeably  faithful  in 
"  showing  mercy"  to  them  during  all  that  interval,  and  especially  to  the  tenth  genera- 
tion who  had  been  brought  out  of  the  land  of  bondage  and  were  on  their  way  to  a 
land  of  blessing.  Here,  then,  was  the  warning  against  apostasy  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  encouragement  to  fidelity  on  the  other,  presented  in  the  most  striking  examples 
to  this  new-born  nation. 

It  is  interesting  to  find  the  glad  tidings  of  the  mercy  of  God  presupposed  and  in- 
cidentally proclaimed  in  this  address  from  the  mount  of  God.  It  is  important  also  to 
note  the  place  where  the  two  alternatives  of  judgment  and  mercy  are  inserted  in  this 
legislative  address.  They  come  after  the  two  precepts  enjoining  the  exclusive  and 
direct  owning  and  worshipping  of  the  true  God.  This  indicates  that  to  have  the  Lord 
for  our  God,  and  to  have  and  to  make  no  other  god,  is  the  basis  of  all  religion,  and 
the  substance  of  the  covenant  between  God  and  his  people.  All  that  follows  after 
is  the  mere  carrying  out  of  this  fundamental  and  fully  expressed  principle.  This 
deep  and  important  thought  fully  bears  out  the  Masorah  in  throwing  verses  2-6  into 
one  paragraph. 

THE   THIED   COMMANDMENT. 

7.  After  the  acknowledgment  of  the  One  Great  Spirit  as  our  God  comes  the  manner 
in  which  we  ought  to  treat  him.  The  name  of  God  is  that  "  by  which  he  makes  him- 
self known."  In  the  realistic  style  of  Scripture,  where  names  are  significant,  the 
name  indicates  the  nature  of  God.  It  is  expressive,  therefore,  of  his  godhead  or  deity. 
It  especially  intimates  that  great  attribute  which  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  di- 
vine nature.  Power  belongeth  unto  God  (Ps.  62  :  11  ;  Eom.  1  :  20)  as  the  essence  of 
his  being  ;  for  power  implies  freedom,  and  freedom  will,  and  will  intelligence  ; 
power,  will,  and  intellect  are  the  three  essentials  of  a  spirit.  To  take  the  name  of  God 
in  vain  is  to  violate  his  essence,  power,  truth.  This  commandment  is  therefore  di- 
rected against  blasphemy,  perjury,  and  all  other  modes  of  dishonoring  the  name  of 
God.  In  its  form  it  serves  to  illustrate  that  feature  in  the  style  of  Scripture  accord- 
ing to  which  a  plain  and  familiar  case  is  set  forth  to  embody  a  general  principle. 
And  hence  in  a  profounder  sense  it  is  opposed  to  pantheism,  naturalism,  creaturism, 
or  the  applying  of  the  name  of  God  to  the  creation  or  any  part  of  it,  or  dealing  with 
it  as  if  it  belonged  to  a  creature. 

The  sin  here  forbidden  has  been  as  prevalent  as  polytheism  or  idolatry.     It  has 


142  THE    MORAL   LAW. 

assumed  all  forms,  from  the  deification  of  a  fetish  to  that  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
or  of  the  universe.  It  has  appeared  not  only  as  a  superstition,  but  as  a  philosophy, 
falsely  so  called.  It  consists  in  the  ascription  either  of  divine  attributes  to  a  creature, 
or  of  creature  attributes  to  God.  The  latter  is  the  form  chiefly  contemplated  in  the 
command,  as  it  is  addressed  to  those  whose  God  is  the  Lord.     It  tends  to  atheism. 

Will  not  acquit  him.  There  is  here  an  allusion  to  the  "  visiting  of  iniquity"  men- 
tioned in  the  previous  passage.  The  iniquity  of  taking  the  name  of  God  in  vain  is 
akin  to  that  of  having  another  god,  or  making  an  idol  before  the  living  and  true  God. 
It  is  a  form  of  apostasy  and  ungodliness,  and  therefore  involves  the  same  guilt,  doom, 
and  penalty.  This  raises  the  third  commandment  to  the  same  gravity  of  character 
with  the  former  two.  The  investigation  of  the  nature  of  that  crime  which  it  pro- 
hibits has  led  us  to  the  same  conclusion  regarding  its  primary  importance. 

The  first  commandment,  then,  guards  the  unity  of  God  ;  the  second,  his  spirit- 
uality ;  the  third,  his  deity,  or  essence.  In  the  first  we  are  forbidden  to  make  God 
one  of  many,  when  he  is  the  only  One  ;  in  the  second,  to  liken  him  to  a  corruptible 
image,  when  he  is  the  incorruptible  Spirit  ;  in  the  third,  to  identify  him  in  any  way 
with  the  creature,  when  he  is  the  Creator.  The  three  combine  to  form  the  funda- 
mental law  of  monotheism  ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  present  an  adumbration  of  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit.  The  Father  is  God,  the  invisible  one  ;  the  Son  is 
the  express  image  of  the  Father  (Heb.  1:2);  and  the  Spirit  is  the  inward  power  or 
essence  of  God. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  ontological  division  of  this  solemn  proclamation  from  Sinai 
takes  place  at  this  point.  All  that  goes  before  refers  to  the  essence  of  God  ;  all  that 
follows  relates,  not  to  his  essence,  but  to  his  work.  This  division  rests  on  the 
theological  aspect  of  the  "  ten  words." 

THE   FOURTH   COMMANDMENT. 

8-11.  This  grand  compend  of  law  now  descends  from  the  personal  rights  of  God  to 
the  day  of  his  rest.  The  former  precepts  are  purely  moral  ;  the  fourth  is  partly  moral 
and  partly  positive.  The  principle  that  man's  time  should  be  divided  between  labor 
under  the  eye  of  God  and  leisure  for  the  solemnities  of  his  worship  is  moral.  The 
apportionment  according  to  the  example  of  God  is  positive.  The  first  three  precepts 
are  of  universal  obligation  whenever  and  wherever  there  is  a  rational  creature.  The 
fourth  is  specially  binding  on  man,  being  founded  on  the  six  days'  work  and  the 
seventh  day's  rest  in  that  creation  of  which  he  formed  the  crowning  part.  It  is  therefore 
to  him  of  perpetual  significance  and  obligation.  Referring  to  a  day  of  rest  for  ap- 
pearing before  God,  it  inculcates  religion  and  prohibits  secularity.  It  has  a  twofold 
form  :  affirmative — "  Eemember  the  Sabbath  day  to  hallow  it  ;"  negative—"  In  it  thou 
shalt  not  do  any  work," 

8.  Bememher.  Pointing  to  an  event  of  the  past  it  is  the  precept  of  memory.  It 
deals  with  the  commemorative  principle.  This  is  in  keeping  with  the  constitution  of 
man.  Memory  is  the  faculty  of  history  ;  and  the  remembrance  of  events  that  have  a 
momentous  influence  on  the  interests  of  man  is  congenial  with  all  the  tendencies  of 
his  nature.  The  day.  It  is  not  without  significance  that  the  law  contains  a  command- 
ment concerning  time,  and  none  concerning  space.  Human  action  occupies  a  certain 
time,  while  it  has  no  definite  relation  to  space.  It  also  implies  forethought,  delibera- 
tion, purpose,  volition.     It  involves  an  agent  and  a  patient,  a  cause  and  an  efEect. 


EXODUS  XX.  9,  10.  143 

As  a  course  of  conduct  runs  through  a  certain  length  of  time,  action  and  duration 
come  to  be  measures  of  each  other.  Hence  history  and  chronology  are  inseparably 
associated.  Spirit  may  be  said  to  be  to  time  as  matter  is  to  space.  The  one  fills 
time  with  the  successive  acts  of  its  free  powers  ;  as  the  other  occupies  space  with  the 
widespread  field  of  its  constant  forces.  The  day  is  the  natural  unit  of  time,  and 
affords  the  measure  for  the  division  of  time  in  the  fourth  commandment.  It  extends 
from  sunset  to  sunset  (Lev,  23  :  32).  ^ahhath,  a  rest,  not  that  of  sleep  or  death,  but 
vacation  from  business,  leisure  for  converse  with  God,  To  hallow  it,  set  it  apart  from 
the  rest  of  time  for  sacred  rest. 

9.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor.  There  is  here  an  injunction  to  labor  in  so  far  as  it  is 
necessary  for  the  support  of  life.  There  is  at  the  same  time  a  permission  to  employ 
six  successive  days  in  labor.  Experience  proves  that  this  is  more  than  sufficient  for 
raising  from  the  ground  the  sustenance  needful  for  man.  And  do  all  thy  work.  Work 
or  business  is  a  more  extensive  term  than  labor.  The  latter  refers  to  outdoor  work 
or  manual  labor,  requiring  effort  and  entailing  toil  ;  the  former  includes,  moreover, 
the  routine  of  domestic  operations,  the  management  of  affairs,  the  transactions  of 
buying  and  selling,  and  all  that  is  usually  meant  by  the  term  "  business." 

10.  But  the  seventh  day.  While  six  days  are  allowed  for  business,  the  seventh  is 
assigned  to  leisure.  The  number  seven  has  acquired  a  typical  sacredness  from  its 
application  to  the  Sabbath.  The  rest  of  God  after  six  days  of  creative  activity,  in 
which  a  habitation  was  prepared,  and  man,  the  intended  inhabitant,  created,  is  the 
historical  foundation  for  the  Sabbath.  But  the  proportion  of  time  for  labor  and  for 
rest  is  not  only  derived  from  the  history  but  adapted  to  the  nature  of  man.  The 
operations  of  the  corporeal  frame  consist  of  three  parts  :  first,  that  which  is  involun- 
tary and  without  intermission,  as  the  action  of  the  heart  and  other  internal  function- 
aries of  the  vital  organism  ;  second,  that  which  is  instinctive,  as  the  travail  of  the  ani- 
mal powers  in  search  of  food,  shelter,  and  other  natural  requirements  ;  and  third, 
that  which  is  rational,  as  the  effort  to  attain  a  certain  end  beyond  the  merely  animal 
wants.  The  first  part  of  the  movement  is  kept  in  constant  vigor  by  the  regular  sup- 
ply of  food.  The  second  has  its  recompense  in  the  natural  repose  of  sleep.  The 
third  remains  over,  to  be  relieved  by  a  recurring  period  of  rest  to  be  determined  by 
reason.  As  on  the  whole  about  a  third  part  of  the  exertion  of  our  powers  may  be  due 
to  this  last  source,  and  that  for  the  half  of  the  natural  day,  it  follows  that  a  sixth  part 
of  each  natural  day  needs  its  compensating  repose.  After  six  days,  therefore,  a 
seventh  day  of  rest  seems  needful  to  repair  the  waste  and  weariness  accruing  from 
voluntary  rational  effort.  At  all  events  the  special  activity  of  the  rational  powers 
evidently  stands  in  need  of  being  recruited  by  a  third  provision,  not  of  the  animal, 
but  of  the  rational  nature,  and  that  is  plainly  the  Sabbath. 

A  Sabbath  to  the  Lord  thy  God.  Eest  and  dedication  to  God  are  the  properties  here 
assigned  to  the  Sabbath.  The  observance  of  the  Sabbath  connects  man  with  the 
origin  of  his  race,  with  the  six  days'  creation,  and  with  the  Creator  himself.  The 
connection  is  manifestly  a  historical  one.  He  that  observes  the  Sabbath  aright  holds 
the  historj-  of  that  which  it  celebrates  to  be  authentic,  and  thei'efore  believes  in  the 
creation  of  the  first  man,  in  the  creation  of  a  fair  abode  for  man  in  the  space  of  six 
days,  in  the  primeval  and  absolute  creation  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and,  as  a 
necessaiy  antecedent  to  all  thi?,  in  the  Creator,  who  a.t  the  close  of  his  latest  creative 
effort  rested  on  the  seventh  day.  The  Sabbath  thus  becomes  a  sign  by  which  the 
believers  in  a  historical  revelation  are  distinguished  from  those  who  have  allowed 


144  THE   MOKAL   LAW. 

these  great  facts  to  fade  from  their  remembrance  (31  :  13).  The  leisure  of  the  Sabbath- 
day,  moreover,  affords  the  opportunity  for  the  holy  convocation,  and  for  the  public 
and  private  exercises  of  praise,  prayer,  reading,  expounding,  and  applying  the  word 
of  God.  The  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  then,  becomes  the  characteristic  of  those 
who  cherish  the  recollections  of  the  origin  of  their  race,  and  who  worship  God  not 
merely  as  Elohim,  the  Everlasting  Almighty,  but  as  Jehovah,  the  historical  God,  the 
Creator,  who  has  revealed  himself  to  man  from  the  dawn  of  his  existence  as  the  God 
of  love,  and  afterward  of  mercy  and  grace,  of  promise  and  performance. 

Thou  shali  not  do  any  work.  Both  labor  and  business  (nil^y  ^^^  firN /"D'  *^®  latter 
including  the  former)  are  excluded  on  the  weeldy  Sabbath.  Thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy 
daughter.  These  are  the  free.  The  remainder,  commencing  without  the  copulative 
conjunction,  are  the  bond.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  enumeration  intimates  the 
duties  of  superiors  to  their  inferiors.  It  points  to  the  right  and  duty  of  parents, 
masters,  and  hosts  to  restrain  those  under  them  from,  sin  and  train  them  to  holiness. 
It  makes  the  mother,  the  wife,  the  mistress,  not  subject,  in  this  respect,  but  equal  to 
the  husband.  It  marks  the  accountability  of  owners  also.  In  like  manner  it  affirms 
the  right  of  children,  servants,  and  strangers  to  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and, 
by  parity  of  reason,  to  the  free  exercise  of  all  other  religious  duties.  It  inculcates  the 
kind  treatment  of  the  lower  animals.  Especially  it  claims  the  seventh-day  rest  for  the 
domestic  animals  that  labor  for  and  with  man  in  the  pursuit  of  his  rational  ends,  I'hy 
stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates  (see  on  12  :  19).  They  were  sojourners,  not  yet  incor- 
jj orated  by  circumcision  into  the  communitj^  of  Israel. 

11.  For.  A  reason  is  assigned  for  the  observance  of  this  precept,  as  there  was  for 
all  that  preceded  it.  God  requires  a  rational  service.  The  reason  is  historical.  It 
refers  to  the  original  division  of  time  into  six  days  of  work  and  a  seventh  day  of  rest 
on  the  occasion  of  the  creation  of  man.  Then  God  not  only  rested  after  the  six  days 
of  creation,  but  blessed  the  Sabbath  day  and  hallowed  it.  He  thus  instituted  a  seventh- 
day  Sabbath  of  perpetual  obligation,  and  therefore  now  enforces  its  constant  remem- 
brance and  observance  (see  on  Gen.  2  : 1-3).  Eeminding  him  of  his  exalted  origin 
and  bringing  him  into  contact  with  his  Maker,  it  awakens  in  his  breast  all  those  feel- 
ings of  joy  and  thankfulness  which  the  possession  of  conscious  being  naturally  evokes. 
From  the  essence  of  God  we  naturally  pass  to  his  action.  As  the  former  three  pre- 
cepts indicate  his  intrinsic  essence,  so  the  fourth  reveals  the  foundation  of  his 
authority  over  the  creature.  The  act  of  creation  is  the  origin  of  all  title  to  the  creat- 
ure and  to  the  obedience  of  the  intelligent  creation.  The  creation  of  man  is  com- 
memorated in  the  fourth  commandment.  Hence  it  contains  the  fountain-head  of  all 
authority  in  God  and  all  duty  in  man.  The  former  three  are  negative.  This  is 
affirmative.  The  former  regard  eternity.  This  refers  to  time,  and  deals  with  man's 
conduct  toward  God,  dividing  it  into  innocent  business  and  recreation  on  six  days, 
and  holy  leisure  for  converse  with  God  on  the  seventh.  The  absolute  authority  of 
God  is  no  less  important  to  us  than  his  necessary  being.  The  former  three  commands 
relate  exclusively  to  God.  The  fourth  introduces  man  on  the  stage  of  existence.  It 
forms,  therefore,  the  natural  transition  from  the  rights  of  God  to  those  of  man. 

Regarding  the  ten  words  as  a  law,  we  are  now  come  to  the  point  of  main  division. 
A  law  determines  what  is  due  to  each  class  of  persons,  and  therefore  may  be  divided 
according  to  the  various  rights  due,  or  the  various  parties  to  whom  they  are  due.  In 
a  primary  division  these  two  principles  come  ultimately  to  the  same  thing,  inasmuch 
as  the  nature  of  the  right  depends  entirely  on  the  nature  of  the  person  to  whom  it  is 


EXODUS  XX.   12.  145 

due.  The  present  summary  of  law  is  divided  on  the  latter  principle  into  the  duties 
of  man  to  God,  and  of  man  to  man.  The  subdivisions  that  flow  from  such  a  primary 
classification  are  merely  the  analysis  of  the  sum  of  right  due  to  each  class  of  individuals. 

THE   FIFTH   COMMANDMENT. 

12-17.  We  are  now  come  to  that  series  of  commandments  which  contain  our  duty  to 
man.  This  is  divided  into  our  duty  to  superiors,  contained  in  one,  and  our  duty  to 
equals,  contained  in  the  remaining  five. 

12.  This  commandment  prescribing  our  diity  to  superiors  is  properly  arranged  after 
the  four  that  determine  our  duty  to  the  great  Supreme.  It  is  also  the  meet  companion 
of  the  fourth,  inasmuch  as  they  are  both  founded  on  the  history  and  nature  of  man  : 
the  former  pointing  to  the  origin  of  the  race  ;  the  latter  to  that  of  the  individual. 
Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother.  We  have  here  a  beautiful  instance  of  the  scriptural 
method  of  laying  down  a  principle  by  enunciating  its  most  striking  and  important 
example.  The  parents  are  the  only  natural  superiors,  for  they  are,  under  God,  the 
authors  of  the  existence  of  those  children  for  whose  maintenance  and  training  they 
labor  with  all  the  assiduity  of  natural  affection.  This  sublime  scheme  of  general 
jurisprudence  does  not  condescend  to  notice  the  ephemeral  arrangements  of  artificial 
society,  but  selects  the  primeval  distinction  of  parent  and  child  as  the  theme  of  legis- 
lation concerning  superiors  and  inferiors.  The  parent  stands  to  the  child  in  the  re- 
lations of  progenitor,  benefactor,  teacher,  and  ruler.  As  progenitor  he  is,  under  God, 
the  author  of  the  child's  existence  ;  and  this  gives  him  a  rightful  authority  over  the 
child  second  only  to  that  supreme  authority  which  creation  gives  to  God  over  both, 
parent  and  child.  Parental  affection  moves  the  father,  and  especially  the  mother,  to 
those  unwearied  efforts  of  tender,  loving,  fostering  care  that  are  demanded  by  the  help^ 
lessness  of  infancy  and  childhood,  and  forms  the  type  and  shadow  of  that  disinterested 
beneficence  which  comes  out  in  other  circumstances  in  the  priestly  office.  The  wisdoia 
and  experience  of  age  qualify  him  to  cultivate  the  intellectual,  active,  and  moral  pow- 
ers of  his  child  ;  in  the  discharge  of  which  duties  he  foreshadows  the  functions  of  the 
prophet,  the  teacher,  and  the  preacher.  His  authority  as  parent  entitles  him,  and 
his  affection  and  experience  befit  him,  to  exercise  a  benignant  sway  over  his  child,  and 
therein  to  adumbrate  the  affairs  of  the  elder  or  ruler  in  the  political  and  ecclesiastical 
worlds. 

The  "father"  and  "mother"  are  distinctly  specified  to  indicate  that  they  are  equal  in 
authority,  and  therefore  equally  entitled  to  that  "honor"  which  the  mother  will 
attract  by  her  love  and  the  father  will  enforce  by  his  power.  This  honor  naturally  re- 
solves itself  into  reverence  for  the  authors  of  our  being,  gratitude  for  the  nameless 
blessings  of  a  home,  docility  to  the  patient  and  persevering  educators  of  our  infant 
minds,  and  obedience  to  the  commands  of  our  natural  superiors.  The  patriarch  was 
father,  priest,  prophet,  and  king  in  his  household  or  clan.  In  the  more  complex 
arrangements  of  nations  and  empires  the  magistrate  and  the  priest  came  out  into  prom- 
inence and  influence  as  distinct  orders,  and  even  the  teacher  sometimes  asserted  a 
standing  and  a  rank  for  himself  in  the  social  scale.  But  all  these  subdivisions  of 
authority  find  their  origin  and  standard  in  the  parental  relation  and  the  fifth  com- 
mandment. This  commandment  enforces  all  lawful  authority,  and  is  opposed  to  all 
the  levelling  and  deranging  fancies  of  anarchy  and  democracy. 

That  thy  days  may  he  loruj  in  the  land.     This  is  the  first  commandment  with  promise. 


146  THE   MORAL   LAW. 

To  comprehend  all  the  meaning  of  this  we  must  remember  that  the  personal  pronoun 
"  thou,  thy,"  is  to  be  taken  both  in  a  collective  and  individual  sense.  In  the  collective 
sense  it  refers  to  the  whole  people,  and  conveys  the  assurance  that  compliance  with 
this  command  will  prolong  or  perpetuate  their  possession  of  the  promised  land.  In 
the  previous  commandment  parents  were  required  to  impress  upon  their  children  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  maintenance  of  that  reverence  for  God,  remembrance 
of  his  creative  power  and  authority,  anddevotiontohis  worship  which  are  inseparably 
associated  with  the  day.  The  dutiful  attention  of  children  to  these  instructions  will 
serve  to  perpetuate  fidelity  to  God  among  the  people  from  generation  to  generation, 
and  therevt^ith  to  perpetuate  the  inheritance  of  the  land  of  their  forefathers.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  neglect  of  the  parents  to  enforce,  or  of  the  children  to  maintain,  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  all  its  associations  with  the  origin  of  their  race  and 
with  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  their  being,  will  inevitably  tend  to  apostasy  from 
the  true  God,  and  consequent  expulsion  from  the  land  of  all  their  natural  and  religious 
affections.  The  subsequent  history  of  this  people  to  the  present  day  forms  a  striking 
comment  on  the  sentence  now  before  us.  The  great  economic  law,  however,  that  filial 
obedience  is  the  main  foundation  of  national  stability  and  prosperity,  is  not  peculiar 
to  the  Jews.  The  domestic  virtues  have  in  all  nations  been  the  prolific  source  of  social 
greatness  and  progress. 

The  personal  application,  however,  of  this  promise  is  no  less  just  and  important. 
Length  of  days  or  of  inheritance  is  a  law  running  through  the  moral  government  of 
God,  counteracted,  no  doubt,  and  modified  by  the  interference  of  other  laws  that  con- 
tribute no  less  to  the  ultimate,  if  not  immediate,  good  of  the  individual.  For  if  life  be 
shortened  to  a  child  of  God,  he  only  enters  the  sooner  upon  a  better  and  higher  life  ; 
and  if  the  inheritance  be  shorter  than  the  life,  yet  he  cannot  be  deprived  of  that  pre- 
cious and  present  inheritance  that  all  things,  even  affliction,  work  together  for  his  good. 

Which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  is  going  to  give  thee,  is  in  the  purpose  and  process 
of  giving  thee,  as  the  imperfect  or  current  participle  denotes.  The  mention  of  this 
circumstance  concerning  the  land  favors  the  wider  interpretation  of  this  promise,  as 
it  was  to  the  whole  people  the  Lord  was  about  to  give  the  land.  It  does  not  however 
preclude  its  reference  to  individuals.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  if  we  regard  the  second 
verse  as  an  integral  part  of  the  first  commandment,  the  phrase  "  the  Lord  thy  God  '' 
occurs  in  each  of  the  first  five  commandments. 

This  is  the  third  and  last  point  at  which  the  main  division  of  the  Decalogue  may  be 
placed  ;  the  ground  of  distinction  being  the  rank  of  the  parties  to  whom  the  rights  are 
assigned.  The  first  five  refer  to  the  rights  of  superiors,  and  the  second  five  to  those 
of  equals.  But  the  second  point  of  division  is  much  more  marked  than  this.  The 
contradistinction  between  God  and  man  is  incomparably  .more  important  than  that 
between  superiors  and  equals,  when  among  the  superiors  God  and  man  are  classed 
together,  and  opposed  to  men  as  equals.  It  is  obvious  that  the  fourth  and  fifth  com- 
mandments form  the  easy  and  gradual  transition  from  the  higher  to  the  lower  sphere 
of  legislation.  They  stand  together  in  many  respects.  They  have  a  positive  form. 
The  one  introduces  us  to  the  family  of  heaven  ;  the  other  to  the  family  of  earth.  The 
former  touches  incidentally  on  the  duties  of  parents  and  masters  ;  the  latter  relates  to 
the  duties  of  children  and  servants.  The  one  respects  the  "  honor"  due  to  the  Great 
Father  of  all  ;  the  other  that  which  is  due  to  his  natural  representative  and  type 
among  men. 
,    13-17.  These  verses  contain  the  five  precepts  regarding  equals.     Three  of  these  refer 


I 


EXODUS  XX.  13-15.  147 

to  deeds,  one  to  words,  and  one  to  thoughts.  They  guard  the  life,  the  chastity,  the 
property,  and  the  character  of  our  neighbor,  not  only  from  the  outward  act,  but  from 
the  inward  thought  of  violence.  It  is,  indeed,  in  all  cases,  the  intent  that  gives  moral 
character  to  the  act. 

THE   SIXTH    COMMANDMENT. 

13.  This  commandment  protects  life,  and  is  against  all  endeavors  that  endanger  the 
life  of  our  neighbor.  As  there  is  no  object  expressed,  it  prohibits  suicide  as  well  as 
homicide.  It  also  forbids  violence,  passion,  lust,  intemperance  in  eating  or  drinking, 
or  anything  that  tends  to  shorten  life.  The  peculiar  sacredness  of  human  life  lies  in 
this,  that  man  is  a  responsible  being,  liable  to  be  rewarded  or  punished  according  to 
his  deeds.  Life  is  the  reward  of  obedience,  and  death  is  the  penalty  of  disobedience. 
The  circumstance  that  this  life  is  to  the  sinner  the  season  of  invitation  to  return  to  God, 
who  will  have  mercy  on  him,  deepens  immeasurably  the  crime  of  cutting  short  his  life 
in  the  midst  of  his  impenitence.  All  these  considerations  are  wrapped  up  in  the  para- 
mount reflection  that  man  was  created  in  the  image  of  God.  Life  is  also  used  in  a 
pregnant  sense  in  Scripture.  It  rises  from  the  mere  natural  life  to  the  spiritual  life, 
which  is  rekindled  in  the  dead  soul  by  the  Spirit  of  life  through  the  word  of  life. 
This  widens  immensely  the  scope  of  this  commandment.  And  if  we  now  advance 
from  the  mere  negation  of  refraining  from  evil  to  the  position  of  abounding  in  good, 
we  behold  opening  before  us  a  boundless  prospect  of  well-doing  for  the  children  of 
God. 

THE   SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT. 

14.  This  commandment  sanctions  marriage  and  prohibits  fornication,  adultery,  and 
all  unchaste  acts.  Among  mankind,  who  are  naturally  gifted  with  reason  and  con- 
science, the  cohabiting  of  the  sexes  ought  to  be  after  the  solemn  compact  of  lawful 
wedlock  by  mutual  consent.  Marriage  ought  to  be  between  one  man  and  one  woman 
who  are  not  within  the  forbidden  degrees  of  consanguinity.  Nothing  dissolves  its 
bonds  but  adultery.  Married  life  is  not  sinful  or  defiling.  On  the  other  hand  it  calls 
forth  some  of  the  tenderest,  fairest,  finest  feelings  of  humanity  ;  and  gives  scope  for 
as  high  and  holy  duties  as  any  relation  in  life.  This  commandment  guards  the  home 
from  the  external  intruder  on  its  chastity,  as  the  fifth  does  from  the  internal  disturber 
of  its  peace. 

The  formation  of  the  woman  out  of  the  man  indicates  in  a  striking  and  beautiful 
manner  the  unity  of  the  married  pair.  The  fourth  and  fifth  commandments  concur 
with  this  in  presupposing  a  parity  of  right  between  the  husband  and  wife.  The  law 
of  Moses  and  the  law  of  Christ  agree  in  vindicating  the  natural  right  of  woman 
against  the  arbitrary  might  of  man.  And  Judaism  and  Christianity  have  been  honor- 
ably distinguished  among  the  nations  for  respecting  the  rights  of  the  weaker  sex. 
This  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  they  both  originated  in  the  East,  where  the  harem 
prevails. 

Marriage  has  been  peculiarly  ennobled  by  being  employed  to  typify  the  union  be- 
tween God  and  his  people  ;  while  apostasy  has  been  odiously  branded  as  fornication 
and  adultery. 

THE   EIGHTH   COMMANDMENT. 

15.  This  precept  guards  property,  and  is  directed  against  taking  that  which  does 
not  belong  to  us,  whether  by  violence  or  fraud.     The  most  heinous  breach  of  this 


148  THE    MORAL   LAW. 

commandment  is  the  stealing  of  man.  If  property  be  taken  in  a  large  sense,  this 
precept  includes  the  two  preceding,  as  the  life  and  the  body  are  strictly  property. 
If  it  embrace  what  belongs  to  another  as  a  debt  or  a  right,  then  this  commandment 
covers  the  whole  field  of  relative  duty.  The  Maker  is  the  only  ultimate  proprietor. 
Not  a  tree  of  the  garden  belongs  to  Adam  till  the  Creator  makes  the  definite  grant. 
All  men  are  equal  in  point  of  natural  right.  The  only  natural  superiority  is  that  of 
the  parent.  All  other  authority  of  man  over  man  is  by  covenant  or  tacit  consent. 
This,  then,  is  the  most  comprehensive  of  all  the  commandments.  And  it  occupies 
the  central  place  among  the  laws  between  equals. 

The  three  preceding  commandments  refer  to  action,  and  in  this  we  see  a  warrant 
for  grouping  them  in  one  verse,  as  is  done  in  some  manuscripts.  They  also  bear  a 
certain  analogy  to  the  first  two  or  three  commandments.  To  have  another  god  is  a 
practical  annihilation  of  the  true  God.  Idolatry  is  a  spiritual  adultery.  Stealing,  in 
a  large  sense,  will  include  taking  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  It  is  in  one  sense  the 
only  thing  of  which  we  can  rob  God. 

THE   NINTH   COMMANDMENT. 

16.  This  commandment  refers  to  speech,  enjoins  truth,  and  is  directed  against  false- 
hood. It  covers  the  same  ground  as  the  preceding  three  ;  as  falsehood  may  imperil 
life,  chastity,  or  property.  It  assumes  its  darkest  form  when  the  falsehood  is  uttered 
avowedly  in  the  presence  of  God,  who  searches  the  heart,  and  will  bring  every  word 
into  judgment.  In  this  aspect  it  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  third  commandment 
which  the  three  preceding  do  to  the  first  two  or  three.  Besides  the  common  appli- 
cations of  this  law,  its  importance  is  enhanced  by  the  circumstances  that  most  of  our 
information  concerning  the  present  or  the  past  comes  to  us  in  the  form  of  language, 
and  that  our  knowledge  of  God,  of  his  work,  and  of  his  grace  is  conveyed  to  us  in  his 
word.  The  eternal,  then,  as  well  as  the  temporal,  interests  of  man  are  linked  with 
spoken  and  written  words.  How  awful,  then,  the  responsibility  of  those  who  are 
endowed  with  the  faculty  of  speech. 

THE   TENTH   COMMANDMENT. 

17.  This  commandment  refers  to  the  thoughts,  inculcates  disinterestedness,  and 
prohibits  indulging  a  desire  after  that  which  belongs  to  another.  The  first  clause  is 
followed  by  a  closed  space  indicating  a  subordinate  separation  from  the  following 
clauses.  The  verb  is  also  repeated  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  clause,  intimating 
a  marked  distinction,  and  warranting  a  certain  pause,  though  not  a  subdivision  of  the 
Decalogue.  The  transposal  of  the  first  two  clauses  in  Deut.  5  :  21  is  sufl&cient  to 
show  that  in  the  estimate  of  the  transcriber  the  two  were  included  in  one  of  the  ten 
words.  This  precept,  also,  is  coextensive  with  the  three  precepts  referring  to  the 
outward  acts.  A  man  cannot  covet  his  neighbor's  life  ;  but  he  may  desire  his  death, 
if  it  would  make  way  for  his  acquiring  possession  of  any  coveted  thing  that  belonged 
to  him.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  present  book,  "  the  house"  is  placed  first.  This 
is  generally  understood  of  the  material  building  in  which  a  man  dwells.  We  prefer 
regarding  the  prominent  thought  implied  in  it  here  to  be  the  family,  including  the 
parents,  and  especially  the  sons  and  daughters  of  all  living  generations  ;  inasmuch  as, 
(1)  the  other  objects  specified  are  living  creatures,  and  "  anything  that  is  thy  neigh- 
bor' s"  includes  the  goods  and  lands  ;  (2)  the  children  are  not  otherwise  mentioned, 


EXODUS  XX.  17.  149 

though  of  more  importance  than  servants  or  cattle  ;  (3)  a  due  subordination  is  thus 
introduced  into  the  details,  the  house  coming  first,  as  including  the  parents  and  chil- 
dren, the  wife  next,  as  the  separable  part  of  the  neighbor,  and  then  the  servants,  cat- 
tle, and  inanimate  objects.  In  Deuteronomy  the  prominent  thought  in  "  house"  seems 
to  be  the  material  building  ;  and  hence  the  wife,  who  is  also  the  mother,  and  includes 
the  children,  is  placed  first,  the  house  and  the  field  are  associated  together  in  the 
next  place,  the  service  by  which  these  are  rendered  comfortable  and  profitable  has 
the  third  rank,  and  the  products  of  their  labor  hold  the  last.  The  arrangement  in 
Exodus  corresponds  closely  with  the  three  precepts  concerning  the  outward  acts  ;  as 
the  sixth  commandment  bears  upon  the  family  in  its  widest  sense,  the  seventh  especially 
on  the  wife,  and  the  eighth  in  some  sense  upon  the  servants,  the  cattle,  and  the 
goods. 

The  improper  desire  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  It  can  seldom  be  reached  by  human 
legislation.  But  it  is  open  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts.  The  intent  is  that  which,  in  the 
last  resort,  determines  the  moral  character  of  the  act.  This  last "  word  "  is,  therefore, 
the  interpreting  clause  of  the  whole  Decalogue  (Kom.  7  :  7).  It  raises  the  code  im- 
measurably above  every  code  of  man,  who  looketh  on  the  outward  appearance  of  con- 
duct, and  at  once  renders  it  worthy  of  the  Lord  who  looketh  on  the  heart.  Covetous- 
ness  here  includes  envy,  malice,  and  every  other  selfish  or  unholy  state  of  the  feel- 
ings. Its  prohibition  involves  the  inculcation  not  merely  of  disinterestedness,  but  of 
all  the  forms  of  unselfish  benevolence.  This  commandment  is,  therefore,  virtually 
the  law  of  love,  and  in  this  positive  sense  gives  that  loftier  aspect  to  the  Decalogue, 
the  traces  of  which  have  been  already  noticed. 

As  the  ninth  commandment  is  related  to  the  third,  so  the  tenth  has  several  points 
of  relation  with  the  fourth  :  (1. )  It  enjoins  disinterestedness,  and  the  observance  of 
a  seventh  day's  rest  is  a  most  powerful  and  practical  demand  for  the  same  state  of  the 
affections.  (2.)  It  contains  an  enumeration  of  the  inmates  and  surroundings  of  the 
home  ;  and  the  fourth  commandment  does  the  same,  and  with  much  of  the  same  in- 
tent. (3.)  It  strikes  at  the  root  of  all  inhumanity  in  the  words  and  acts  of  men  ;  and 
the  law  of  the  Sabbath  strikes  at  the  root  of  all  ungodliness  in  a  world  that  is  prone 
to  secularity.  There  is  no  command  of  the  Decalogue  by  which  the  public  sense  of 
religious  obligation  has  been  so  deeply  tried  and  found  wanting  as  the  fourth  ;  and 
the  obvious  and  almost  avowed  spring  of  all  worldly  opposition  and  natural  antipathy 
to  it  is  the  selfish,  grasping,  avaricious  spirit  which  is  condemned  in  the  tenth. 

This  brings  out  a  curious  proof  of  the  internal  coherence  of  these  ten  words.  If  we 
connect  together  the  first  and  second  commandment,  and  likewise  form  the  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth,  that  relate  to  the  outward  conduct,  into  one  group,  we  bring  to 
view  a  remarkable  analogy  between  the  former  and  the  latter  ;  and  the  same  analogy 
appears  between  the  third  and  ninth,  and  between  the  fourth  and  tenth.  Thus  the 
law  is  found  to  fall  naturally  into  a  sevenfold  division,  three  members  of  which  relat- 
ing to  God  are  before  the  fifth  commandment,  and  three  relating  to  man  after  this  cen- 
tral precept  relating  to  parents.  The  number  ten  points  to  the  perfection  of  this 
code,  and  this  internal  septenary  arrangement  to  its  holiness.  There  is,  therefore,  a 
wonderful  display  of  unity  and  comprehensiveness  in  this  moral  discourse.  While 
adopting  the  concrete  form  that  comes  home  to  the  common  mind,  it  embodies  at  the 
same  time  in  its  familiar  examples  all  the  great  abstract  principles  of  moral  truth. 
The  mild  voice  of  a  paternal  authority  is  heard  in  it,  inasmuch  as  while  it  warns  the 
decided  or  defiant  apostate  of  certain  retribution,  it  whispers  mercy  to  every  returning 


150  THE   MOEAL  LAW. 

penitent.  It  is  addressed,  no  doubt,  to  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  alludes  to  their  recent 
deliverance  from  bondage  ;  but  it  purports  to  be  the  utterance  of  the  Almighty,  the 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  It  does  not  suffer  any  limitation  by  being  proclaimed  to 
that  portion  of  the  human  race  which  remained  in  professed  communion  with  God, 
fiiince  it  forewarns  the  apostate  nations  of  approaching  visitation,  and  clothes  its  pre- 
cepts in  the  garb  of  denunciations  against  their  most  glaring  sins.  Many  of  its  pre- 
cepts are  of  universal  and  eternal  obligation,  and  none  of  them  is  narrower  than  the 
whole  compass  and  duration  of  the  human  race  on  earth.  To  the  heirs  of  immortality, 
when  they  have  become  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  when  they  neither  marry 
nor  are  given  in  marriage,  and  have  more  things  common  than  air  and  water,  the 
principles  contained  in  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  commandments,  if  they  require 
to  be  republished,  will  assume  a  new  form  adapted  to  their  new  condition.  But  the 
principles  themselves,  and  even  the  form  in  which  they  are  now  presented,  can  never 
cease  to  be  self-evident  and  self-binding, 

18-21,  The  effect  of  the  spectacle  which  Mount  Sinai  presented  upon  the  people  is 
here  described.  "We  may  suppose  that  the  awful  silence  which  prevailed  during  the  de- 
livery of  the  law  was  followed  by  a  return  of  the  thunderings  and  the  lightnings,  and 
the  clang  of  the  trumpet.  All  the  people  saw.  The  verb  is  here  used  in  a  pregnant 
sense.  They  saw  the  scene  which  was  accompanied  by  the  dread  crashing  of  the 
elements  and  the  thrilling  notes  of  that  unearthly  cornet.  They  drew  back  and  stood 
afar  off.  The  solemnities  of  the  divine  presence  beget  the  feeling  of  reverential  awe, 
tinder  the  influence  of  which  they  retire  to  a  respectful  distance.  They  have  no  more 
any  doubt  of  the  divine  commission  of  Moses  ;  and  they  entreat,  by  their  elders,  that 
Ccod  would  speak  to  them  through  Moses,  and  not  directly  and  personally,  lest  they 
die.  Human  consciousness  in  its  fallen  state  shrinks  from  immediate  contact  with 
God  (vs,  20),  Moses  pronounces  the  encouraging  word.  Fear  not,  a  word  long  remem- 
bered afterward  (Hag,  2:5),  To  prove  you.  The  test  of  their  fidelity  to  the  Lord 
their  God  was  the  law,  which  was  now  promulgated  from  Sinai  with  all  the  advantages 
of  the  immediate  presence  and  audible  voice  of  God,  Faith  in  God  is  a  dead  form, 
if  it  do  not  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  penitence  and  obedience.  Hence  he  sets  before 
them  in  the  most  conspicuous  light  the  standard  of  a  perfect  morality  that  he  may 
prove  them,  thai  his  fear  may  he  before  them  that  they  sin  not.  The  signal  demonstrations 
of  his  presence  and  power  will  leave  them  without  the  excuse  of  any  obscurity  in  the 
oracles  they  have  received,  and  awaken  a  salutary  sense  of  the  infinite  majesty  and 
sanctity  of  the  Supreme  (vs.  21).  And  Moses  drew  near  to  the  thick  darkness  where  God 
fioas.  We  learn  from  the  supplementary  narrative  of  Deuteronomy  that  Moses  com- 
inunicated  the  petition  of  the  people  to  the  Lord,  who  was  pleased  therewith,  and  gave 
them  leave  to  retire  to  their  tents  (Beut.  5  :  28). 

22-26.  The  altar.  The  paragraph  now  before  us  is  the  close  after  the  ten  words 
and  the  preface  to  the  legislation  of  the  three  following  chapters.  It  is  in  the  form 
of  a  message  to  Israel.  It  reminds  them  of  the  palpable  fact  that  he  had  spoken  to 
them  from  heaven.  23.  Ye  shall  not  make  with  me  any  idol.  The  construction  here  is 
remarkable.  The  first ''  make"  has  no  object  expressed.  It  is  designed  to  make  em- 
phatic the  accompanying  "with  me"  by  which  the  exclusive  unity  of  the  Godhead  is 
intimated.     The  object  is  then  supplied  and  the  verb  repeated. 

24,  An  altar.  This  prohibition  to  make  any  image  of  God  is  designed  to  introduce 
the  permission  or  injunction  to  make  an  altar  to  him.  The  only  outward  thing  in  the 
salvation  of  the  soul  is  the  atonement.     The  necessity  of  propitiation  is  accordingly 


EXODUS   XXI.  151 

symbolized  in  the  altar.  The  mercy  of  God  needs  no  type,  and  has  its  place  in  the 
proclamation  on  Sinai.  The  propitiation  which  makes  way  lor  his  mercy  to  the  peni- 
tent sinner  by  satisfying  his  justice,  has  its  type  in  the  altar  and  the  sacrifice  thereon. 
This  special  provision  for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  though  it  vs^ould  be  out  of  place  in 
the  ten  words,  yet  forms  the  main  substance  of  all  that  is  shadowed  forth  in  the 
Avhole  ceremonial  law.  It  therefore  comes  in  here  as  the  necessary  antecedent  of  all 
acceptable  approaching  to  God  and  walking  with  him.  The  word  altar  connects  Moses 
and  the  people  of  Israel  with  Noah  and  his  rescued  family  (Gen.  8  :  20).  Of  earth. 
Earth  was  the  scene  of  man's  sin  ;  it  is  also  to  be  the  scene  of  the  sacrifice  for  sin. 
The  altar  of  earth  is  merely  the  definite  spot  of  this  earth  set  apart  for  sacrifice,  and 
elevated  to  raise  the  offering  toward  God,  who  is  in  heaven.  2  hy  burnt-offerings.  The 
two  gTeat  classes  of  offerings  are  the  expiatory  and  the  eucharistic.  The  former  is  here 
represented  by  the  ,-]^y  or  burnt-offering  (Gen.  8  :  20),  which  implies  on  the  part  of 
the  offerer  the  confession  of  guilt  and  of  the  need  of  an  atonement.  And  thy  peace- 
offering.  This  is  that  species  of  offering  which  was  designed  to  express  the  thanks- 
giving of  the  offerer  for  peace  with  God  or  any  of  its  attendant  benefits.  It  was  also 
expressive  of  devotedness  to  him.  Thy  sheep  and  thine  oxen.  The  ordinary  kinds  of 
animals  employed  in  sacrifice.  Goats  were  included  along  with  the  sheep.  In  every 
place  ichere  I  record  r)\y  name,  where  I  cause  my  name  to  be  remembered  and  invoked. 
This  intimates  some  change  of  the  place  where  the  altar  was  to  be  erected.  The 
patriarchs  were  wont  to  build  an  altar  w^herever  God  appeared  to^them.  /  will  com^ 
unto  thee  and  hless  thee.     The  presence  and  the  bovinty  of  God  are  here  promised. 

25,  26.  The  altar  may  be  of  stones,  if  unhewn.  It  is  thus  entirely  a  work  of  God, 
and  so  in  keeping  with  that  propitiation  which  comes  entirely  from  God.  If  thou  lift 
up  thy  tool  upon  it,  thou  dost  pollute  it.  This  teaches,  by  a  figure,  that  the  sinner  only 
defiles,  and  therefore  cannot  have  any  part  in  atoning.  The  altar  of  rude  stone  was 
common  among  the  ancient  nations.  Motives  of  decency  dictated  that  the  altar  was 
not  to  be  approached  by  steps. 

The  prescription  here  concerning  the  altar  appears  in  the  most  general  form.  The 
details  of  legislation  on  this  subject  wiU  appear  in  their  proper  place. 


XII.     THE   CIVIL   LAW.— Ex.  21-24. 

CHAP.    XXI. — LAWS    OF    SERVITUDE    AKD    PERSONAL    SAFETY. 

XXI.  1.  And  these  are  the  judgments  which  thou  shalt  set  before  them.  2.  When 
thou  gettcst  a  Hebrew  servant,  six  years  shall  he  serve  ;  and  in  the  seventh  he  shall 
go  out  tree  for  nothing.  3.  If  he  come  in  by  himself,  he  shall  go  out  by  himself  ;  if 
he  be  married,  then  his  wife  shall  go  out  with  him.  4.  If  his  master  give  him  a 
wife,  and  she  have  borne  him  sons  or  daughters,  the  wife  and  her  children  shall  be 
her  masters,  and  he  shall  go  out  by  himself.  5.  And  if  the  servant  shall  plainly  say, 
I  love  my  master,  my  wife,  and  my  children  ;  I  will  not  go  out  free  :  6.  Then  his 
master  shall  bring  him  unto  God  :  and  shall  bring  him  to  the  door  or  to  the  door- 
post ;  and  his  master  shall  bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl  ;  and  he  shall  serve  for 
ever.  §  32. 

7.  And  when  a  man  sells  his  daughter  to  be  a  maid-servant,  she  shall  not  go  out 
as  the  men-servants  do.  8.  If  she  please  not  her  master,  who  hath  not  betrothed 
her,  then  he  shall  let  her  be  redeemed  :  to  sell  her  to  a  strange  people  he  shall  have 
no  power,  when  he  hath  deceived  her.  9.  And  if  he  betroth  her  to  his  son,  he  shall 
deal  v.ith  her  after  the  manner  of  daughters.     10.  If  he  take  him  another  wife,  her 


152  THE    CIVIL   LAW. 

food,  her  raiment,  and  lier  duty  of  marriage  shall  lie  not  diminish.     11.  And  if  he  do 
not  these  three  unto  her,  then  shall  she  go  out  free  without  money.  §  33. 

12.  He  that  smiteth  a  man,  so  that  he  die,  shall  be  sarely  put  to  death.  13.  And 
if  a  man  lie  not  in  wait,  but  God  deliver  him  into  his  hand,  then  I  will  appoint  thee  a 
place  whither  he  shall  flee.  §  34. 

14.  But  if  a  man  come  presumptuously  on  his  neighbor  to  slay  him  with  guile,  thou 
shalt  take  him  from  mine  altar  to  put  him  to  death.  §  35. 

15.  And  he  that  smiteth  his  father  or  his  mother  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.     §  36. 

13.  And  he  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  in  whose  hand  he  is  found,  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death.  §  37. 

17.  He  that  curseth  his  father  or  his  mother  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  §  38. 

18.  And  if  men  quarrel,  and  one  smite  another  with  a  stone  or  with  his  fist,  and 
he  die  not,  but  is  laid  on  his  bed :  19.  If  he  rise  and  walk  abroad  on  his  staff,  then 
shall  he  that  smote  him  be  quit  ;  only  he  shall  pay  for  his  loss  of  time,  and  cause 
him  to  be  thoroughly  healed.  §  39. 

20.  And  if  a  man  smite  his  servant  or  his  maid  with  a  rod,  and  he  die  under  his 
hand,  he  shall  surely  be  punished.  21.  But  if  he  continue  a  day  or  two,  he  shall  not 
be  punished  ;  for  he  is  his  money.  §  40, 

22.  And  if  men  strive,  and  hurt  a  woman  with  child,  so  that  her  fruit  depart  from 
her,  and  no  mischief  follow,  he  shall  be  surely  fined,  according  as  the  woman's  hus- 
band will  lay  upon  him,  and  he  shall  give  as  the  judges  determine.  23.  And  if  mis- 
chief follow,  then  thou  shalt  give  life  for  life  ;  24.  Eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  hand  for 
hand,  foot  for  foot  ;  25.  Burning  for  burning,  wound  for  wound,  stripe  for  stripe.  §  41. 

26.  And  if  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his  servant,  or  the  eye  of  his  maid,  that  it  perish, 
he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his  eye's  sake.  27.  And  if  he  knock  out  the  tooth  of  his 
servant,  or  the  tooth  of  his  maid,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his  tooth's  sake.        If  34. 

28.  And  if  an  ox  gore  a  man  or  a  woman,  and  he  die,  the  ox  shall  be  surely  stoned, 
and  his  flesh  shall  not  be  eaten  ;  but  the  owner  of  the  ox  shall  be  ^uit.  29.  But  if 
the  ox  were  wont  to  gore  in  time  past,  and  it  hath  been  testified  to  his  owner,  and  he 
hath  not  kept  him  in,  and  he  hath  killed  a  man  or  a  woman,  the  ox  shall  be  stoned, 
and  his  owner  also  shall  be  put  to  death.  30.  If  a  price  be  laid  on  him,  then  he  shall 
give  for  the  ransom  of  his  life  whatsoever  is  laid  upon  him.  31.  Whether  he  gore  a 
son  or  gore  a  daughter,  according  to  this  judgment  shall  it  be  done  unto  him.  32.  If 
the  ox  gore  a  servant  or  a  maid,  he  shall  give  unto  his  master  thirty  shekels  of  silver, 
and  the  ox  shall  be  stoned.  §  42. 

33.  And  if  a  man  shall  open  a  pit,  or  if  a  man  dig  a  pit  and  cover  it  not,  and  an  ox 
or  an  ass  fall  therein,  34.  The  owner  of  the  pit  shall  make  it  good  :  the  money  he  shall 
return  to  its  owner,  and  the  dead  beast  shall  be  his.  §  43. 

35.  And  if  one  man's  ox  gore  another's,  and  it  die,  then  they  shall  sell  the  live  ox 
and  divide  the  money  of  it  ;  and  the  dead  ox  also  thej^  shall  divide.  36.  Or  if  it  be 
known  that  the  ox  was  wont  to  gore  in  time  past,  and  his  owner  did  not  keep  him  in, 
he  shall  surely  pay  ox  for  ox,  and  the  dead  shall  be  his.  §  44. 

1.  And  these  are  the  judgments  which  thou  shalt  set  before  them.  This  is  the  heading  of 
the  four  chapters  which  contain  the  civil  polity  of  the  Jewish  theocracy.  It  will  aid 
very  much  the  intelligent  perusal  of  these  chapters  if  we  mark  the  orderly  arrange- 
ment of  the  topics  of  which  they  treat.  The  main  features  of  this  arrangement  have 
been  grasped  by  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  expositors.  With  some  variance  from  the 
•usual  division,  and  some  endeavor  after  a  more  extensive  elucidation,  it  is  exhibited  in 
the  following  scheme  : 

I.     Of  Servitude xxi.  1-11 5th  Commandment. 

II.     Of  Personal  Safety xxi.  12-32 6th 

III.  Of  Property xxi.  33-xxi.  14 8th 

IV.  Of  Conjugal  Fidelity xxii.  15-30 7th 

V.     or  Veracity xxiii.  1-9 9th 

VI.     Of  Set  Times xxiii.  10-19 4th 

VII.     Of  Piety xxiii.  20-33 10th 


EXODUS  XXI.    1,   2-11.  153 

The  first  of  these  sections  refers  to  the  duties  of  masters  and  servants,  and  is  there- 
fore a  natural  expansion  of  the  fifth  commandment,  which  relates  to  parents  and  chil- 
di-en.  The  second  treats  of  injuries  destroying  or  endangering  life,  and  hence  comes 
under  the  sixth  commandment.  The  third,  relating  to  property,  is  an  expansion  of 
the  eighth.  The  fourth  is  of  a  somewhat  diversified  character  ;  but  its  various  pre. 
cepts  bear  upon  the  marriage  vow,  either  between  husband  and  wife,  or  between  God 
and  his  jDeople.  The  injunctions  concerning  the  stranger,  the  widow  and  orphan,  and 
the  poor,  will  naturally  come  under  the  latter  head,  if  we  remember  that  God  avouches 
himself  the  guardian  of  all  such.  This  section  is  thus  analogous  to  the  seventh  com- 
mandment. The  fifth  section,  on  truthfulness  and  integrity  in  witness-bearing  and 
judging,  develops  the  ninth  commandment.  The  sixth,  on  the  observance  of  set 
times,  finds  its  germ  in  the  fourth  word  of  the  Decalogue.  The  seventh,  on  the 
acknowledging,  worshipping,  and  serving  of  Jehovah  alone,  who  searches  the  hearts 
and  estimates  the  motives,  is  closely  allied  with  the  tenth  commandment. 

It  follows  that  the  civil  code  is  capable  of  being  divided  into  seven  sections,  corre- 
sponding with  the  last  seven  precepts  of  the  Decalogue,  though  exhibiting  a  different 
order.  The  order  depends  in  each  case  on  the  material  to  be  arranged  and  the  end  to 
be  attained.  There  the  matter  was  the  moral  relation  between  the  Creator  and  a  race 
of  intelligent  creatures,  and  the  end  a  compend  of  universal  law.  Here  the  matter  is 
the  moral  relation  between  the  Sovereign  and  his  subjects,  and  the  end  a  code  of  civil 
jurisprudence.  Here  the  subject  of  law  is  regarded,  (1)  as  a  master  ;  (2)  as  a  neigh- 
bor ;  (3)  as  an  owner  ;  (4)  as  a  consort  ;  (5)  as  a  speaker  ;  (6)  as  a  disposer  of  time  ; 
and  (7)  as  a  child  of  God.  The  basis  of  this  arrangement  appears  to  be  a  gradation 
in  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  man.  It  is  manifest  that  the  first  section  touches 
upon  his  lowest  stage  and  the  last  upon  his  highest.  The  serf  is  one  who  is  denuded 
of  some  part  of  his  natural  rights.  The  neighbor  is  in  possession  of  that  great  origi- 
nal right  of  one  creature  against  every  other,  namely,  the  inviolability  of  his  person. 
The  owner  is  invested  with  certain  additional  rights,  acquired  originally  by  the  grant 
of  the  Creator,  which  is  the  only  just  title  to  property.  The  consort  indicates  a  still 
higher  degTee  of  responsibility,  as  the  social  compact  which  it  involves  brings  into 
view  reason  and  vrill,  and  fidelity  and  trust.  The  speaker  is  endowed  with  the  organ 
of  that  sociality  which  is  implied  in  the  consort.  The  occupant  of  time  has  within 
his  power  the  set  time  of  meeting,  private  or  public,  which  affords  the  possibility  of 
social  conference.  The  child  of  God  rises  to  the  highest  privileges  of  social  happiness 
in  the  great  family  of  heaven  and  earth.  A  piece  of  composition  that  admits  of  such 
analysis  must  have  an  internal  harmony  and  unity. 

Bertheau,  and  after  him  Baumgarten,  maintain  that  as  the  "  ten  words"  constitute 
the  great  Decalogue,  so  each  of  these  sections  forms  a  minor  decalogue.  There  is,  we 
conceive,  some  tenable  ground  for  this  subdivision.  This  brings  out  in  a  striking 
light  the  wonderful  system  lying  in  the  structure  of  this  seemingly  unconnected  collec- 
tion of  injunctions.  Seven  groups  of  ten  precepts  each  form  the  fundamental  polity 
of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel. 

Hie  judgments.  These  are  decisions  on  points  of  law  that  may  arise  between  man 
and  man.  They  are  therefore  authoritative  sentences  or  precepts  for  the  regulation 
of  civil  society. 

I.    LAWS    OF   SEEVITUDE. 

2-11.  Here  are  ten  verses  containing  the  first  decade  of  laws.     They  relate  to  serf- 


154  THE    CIVIL    LAW. 

dom,  or  the  degraded  state  of  man  in  wliich  lie  is  stripped  of  some  of  his  natural 
rights.  The  only  natural  rights  are  rights  of  person,  such  as  liberty,  life,  and  invio- 
labilitj''  of  person.  Offenders  against  the  law  are  in  all  states  deprived  of  some  or 
most  of  these  rights  as  the  penalty  of  their  offence.  Even  insolvency  in  some  states 
has  involved  the  loss  of  liberty  and  life.  Captives  in  war  have  been  often  treated  as 
offenders  against  the  state,  and  consigned  to  bondage  for  life.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  the  withdrawal  of  freedom,  or  the  imposition  of  labor  for  a  term  of  years  or  for 
life,  according  to  the  degree  of  the  offence,  is  a  legitimate  mode  of  state  punishment. 
Hence  serfdom  and  forced  labor  are  warrantable  in  the  case  of  crime.  Even  the  ap- 
prenticeship of  six  3'-ears  for  the  acquisition  of  handicraft,  or  any  other  craft,  such  as 
domestic  service,  with  proper  restrictions,  might  be  an  improvement  on  our  social 
system.  And  in  ancient  times,  when  servitude  merely  meant  the  performance  of  ser- 
vice with  the  understood  condition  of  receiving  food  and  raiment  in  return,  many 
were  glad  to  accept  the  terms  without  stipulating  for  a  personal  freedom  which  was 
to  them  of  no  practical  value.  The  present  decade  of  laws  does  not  institute  servi- 
tude, or  commit  itself  to  the  approbation  of  every  kind  of  bondage.  It  merely  implies 
that  some  form  of  it,  such  as  that  of  criminals  under  correction,  or  the  dependant  who 
voluntarily  enters  into  it,  is  admissible.  It  recognizes  the  fact  of  its  existence,  with- 
out entering  into  the  origin  of  this  degraded  condition.  The  decade  of  precepts  is 
divided  into  two  fives,  each  beginning  with  when  (i^,  vs.  2,  7),  followed  by  four 
ifs  (CX)-     "T^®  former  five  relate  to  the  man-servant,  the  latter  to  the  maid-servant. 

2.  If  thou  get,  acquire  in  any  way,  it  may  be  by  the  voluntary  offer  of  the  individ- 
ual, who  sometimes  sold  himself  into  servitude,  such  as  is  here  contemplated,  as  a 
means  of  improving  his  temjJoral  condition  (Lev.  25  :  39  ;  Deut.  15  :  12).  A  Hebrew 
servant.  A  servant  is  merely  a  laborer.  The  term  does  not  of  itself  indicate  the  loss 
of  freedom.  We  see  no  reason  why  the  term  Hebrew  should  not  be  taken  here  in  its 
full  extent  of  meaning  as  a  descendant  of  Heber,  at  least  as  far  .as  this  relationship 
still  lived  in  the  memories  of  men,  and  no  disturbing  event  interfered  with  its  appli- 
cation. We  have  no  doubt  that  in  process  of  time  the  term  was  gradually  narrowed 
in  application,  until  it  came  to  be  of  the  same  extent,  though  not  precisely  of  the 
same  meaning,  with  Israelite  or  Jew.  This  first  decision  limits  the  period  of  servi- 
tude for  a  HebreAV  to  six  years.  As,  however,  all  the  Hebrew  servants  became  free  in 
the  jubilee  or  fiftieth  year  (Lev.  25  :  10,  40),  this  period  would  be  shortened  if  it  com- 
menced within  the  six  years  immediately  before  the  jubilee.  It  is  plain  from  this 
statute  that  the  involuntary  servitude  of  a  Hebrew  could  not  be  prolonged  beyond  six 
years.  He  then  goes  out  free  for  nothing,  or  without  any  redemption.  Nay,  it  is 
further  enjoined  in  Deut.  15  :  12,  18,  that  he  shall  be  furnished  with  a  stock  to  enable 
him  to  enter  upon  a  life  of  self-dependence. 

3.  This  verse  contains  two  enactments,  that  are  the  complements  of  one  whole.  He 
that  comes  in  by  himself,  with  his  body  only,  shall  go  out  by  himself.  But  if  he  come 
in  married,  his  wife  also  shall  go  out  with  him  at  the  end  of  the  six  years.  This 
includes,  no  doubt,  the  family,  if  any,  as  they  go  with  the  mother. 

4.  The  fourth  decides  that  in  case  his  master  give  him  a  wife,  she  and  her  children 
shall  remain  with  the  master  when  the  husband  goes  free.  The  wife  belonged  to  the 
master.  The  children  go  with  her  who  can  tend  them  in  their  infant  years,  and  sus- 
tain them  out  of  her  master's  abundance.  The  difference  in  condition  between  the 
husband  and  his  wife  does  not  however  necessarily  dissolve  the  tie  of  wedlock  be- 
tween them.    The  husband's  "  going  out  by  himself"  simply  means  that  his  wife  does 


i 


EXODUS  XXI.  5-32.  155 

not  share  his  freedom  with  him.  It  does  not  of  itself  dissolve  the  marriage  bond. 
They  may  continue  to  live  as  husband  and  wife,  though  it  is  possible  that,  in  the 
loose  manners  of  the  times,  the  connection  would  be  sometimes  entirely  broken  off. 
The  liberation  of  the  husband  may  have  made  it  inconvenient,  diflacult,  or  sometimes 
impossible  for  them  to  live  together.  Such  a  case  is  provided  for  in  the  following 
enactment. 

5,  6.  The  fifth  clause  of  this  section  presents  a  very  agreeable  aspect  of  servitude 
as  existing  in  Israel.  Shall  plainly  say,  declare  m  all  the  earnestness  and  warmth  of 
his  heart.  I  love,  I  have  learned  to  love  my  master.  1  will  not  go  out  free.  Here  is  a 
case  of  voluntary  servitude,  and  that  not  for  a  limited  term  of  years.  6.  Shall  bring 
him  unto  God.  Here  is  the  first  mention  of  the  magistrate  in  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel.  The  supreme  ruler  in  this  singular  community  is  God  himself.  His  ministers, 
governors,  and  judges,  therefore,  speak  with  an  authority  paramount  to  all  other. 
The  Sept.  aptly  renders  Trpds  rd  KpL-ypiov  tov  Geov,  to  the  court  of  God.  The  freed 
man  is  to  make  his  solemn  declaration  "  I  will  not  go  free"  before  the  authorities  of 
the  land,  who  will  see  to  it  that  the  act  is  of  his  own  free  will.  To  the  door  or  to  the 
post,  whichever  is  the  more  suitable.  The  latter  is  always  available,  but  the  door- 
leaf  may  sometimes  be  wanting.  His  master  shall  do  the  act,  as  the  chief  party  con- 
cerned. Bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl.  The  awl  through  the  ear  is  to  be  driven 
into  the  door  or  the  post  (Deut.  15  :  17),  to  signify  the  permanent  attachment  of  the 
bondsman  to  the  family  of  his  master.  And  he  shall  serve  for  ever.  Josephus  and  the 
Kabbins  explain  this  to  be  a  service  till  the  next  jubilee.  This  seems  natural,  as 
the  phrase  "  for  ever"  is  to  be  explained  according  to  the  nature  of  that  to  which  it  is 
applied.     It  could  not  in  this  case  extend  longer  than  the  natural  life  of  the  servant. 

7-11.  These  five  verses  contain  the  law  of  the  maid-servant.  To  sell  his  daughter  to 
he  a  maid-servant  was  partly  the  resource  of  poverty,  and  partly  the  custonj  of  the 
country.  It  is  plain  that  the  maid-servant  so  bought  was  to  have  the  place  of  a  wife 
or  a  concubine,  either  to  her  purchaser  or  his  son.  In  either  case  she  is  not  to  go  out 
as  the  men-servants  do.  If  she  please  her  master,  she  has  an  acknowledged  position  of 
right  in  his  house,  which  the  marriage  bond  secures  to  her. 

8.  If  she  please  him  not,  and  accordingly  he  do  not  betroth  her  or  give  her  this  right- 
ful place,  he  shall  let  her  be  redeemed  by  some  of  her  kindred.  He  is  not  at  liberty  to  sell 
her  to  a  foreigner,  when  he  has  deceived  her  by  refusing  her  the  rights  of  marriage.  This 
last  clause  is  only  a  circumstance  necessitating  her  release.  The  illegality  of  selling 
her  to  a  foreigner  rests  on  the  fact  of  her  Israelitish  descent. 

9.  If  he  betroth  her  to  his  son,  she  shall  be  treated  as  a  daughter  and  not  as  a  bonds- 
maid.     She  is  to  have  all  the  privileges  of  a  wife. 

10.  ]f  he  take  him  another  wife.  This  may  refer  either  to  the  father  or  the  son.  The 
latter  seems  preferable.  A  second  wife  is  not  to  exclude  the  former  from  the  rights 
of  food,  raiment,  and  conjugal  intercourse.  Here  again  we  find  the  law  not  institut- 
ing either  polygamy  or  concubinage,  but  guarding  the  rights  of  the  wife. 

11.  If  these  three  rights  be  withheld,  the  bondsmaid  is  to  go  free  without  any  re- 
demption. A  servitude  in  which  the  bondsmaid  might  become  the  honored  wife  of 
the  master  or  of  his  son,  or  in  case  of  neglect  be  released  from  her  bondage,  was  thus 
secured  for  the  poor  daughter  of  Israel. 

n.  LAWS  or  PERSONAL,  SAFETY. 

12-32.  From  man  divested  of  the  natural  right  of  freedom  v/e  advance  to  man  in- 


156  THE   CIVIL   LAW. 

vested  with  the  natural  right  of  personal  inviolability.  This  is  the  most  fundamental 
right  that  belongs  to  intelligent  creatures.  As  they  come  from  the  hand  of  the  Cre- 
ator, one  individual  has  no  right  to  harm  another,  and  each  has  a  right  to  be  left 
unharmed  by  every  other.  The  Creator  has  the  authority  and  the  obligation  to 
enforce  this  law  upon  the  intelligent  portion  of  his  creatures  ;  and  in  a  fallen  state 
civil  government  is  instituted  on  the  ultimate  basis  of  the  patriarchal  authority  to 
check  its  infringement  and  guard  personal  safety.  The  special  form  of  personal  vio- 
lence prohibited  in  this  set  of  judgments  is  injury  to  life  or  limb.  It  is  therefore  an 
expansion  of  the  sixth  commandment.  The  injury  may  come  directly  from  our  neigh- 
bor (vs.  12-27),  or  indirectly  from  his  ox  (vs.  28-32). 

12-14.  Intentional  killing,  or  murder,  is  placed  first.  The  general  rule  is  first  laid 
down.  The  murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  No  satisfaction  or  pecuniary  fine 
was  to  be  taken  for  the  life  of  a  murderer.  The  rich  and  the  poor  were  to  stand  here 
on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  (Num.  35  :  31).  Then  the  two  cases  of  premeditated 
and  unpremeditated  manslaying  are  distinguished.  If  a  man  lie  not  in  wait.  If  the 
intention  be  not  harbored  in  his  mind  ;  if  a  plot  be  not  laid.  But  God  deliver  him  into 
his  hand.  Here  the  particular  providence  of  God  is  recognized  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner.  This  clause  is  merely  the  complement  of  that  which  precedes.  If  the 
slayer  had  no  hand  in  bringing  about  the  meeting,  then  it  falls  under  the  general  head 
of  the  divine  administration.  It  is  only  the  meeting  of  the  parties  that  is  here  re- 
ferred to  this  head.  The  broader  question  of  the  occurrence  of  all  events,  moral  and 
physical,  in  subordination  to  divine  providence  is  not  here  mooted.  A  place  whither 
he  shall  flee.  This  contains  a  reference  to  the  avenger  of  blood  {^^^  q-;  ^^^,  Num. 
35  : 9-32),  the  nearest  of  kin,  who  was  by  primeval  custom  antecedent  to  all  statute 
law  entitled  and  bound  to  maintain  the  cause  of  the  deceased  in  general,  and  in  the 
case  of  death  by  violence  to  pursue  the  slayer,  and,  if  he  overtook  him,  to  put 
him  to  death.  The  life  of  man  is  infinitely  precious,  both  because  he  has 
been  created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  because  he  is  responsible  hereafter  for  what  is 
done  here.  Hence  even  unintentional  homicide  is  regarded  as  an  awful  deed,  which 
is  not  to  be  passed  over  without  check  or  censure.  But  though  the  avenger  of  blood 
is  recognized  as  the  minister  of  a  prompt  and  natural  justice,  yet  a  way  of  escape  is 
opened  for  the  unintentional  manslayer  by  the  institution  of  six  cities  of  refuge 
(Josh.  20  : 7,  8),  so  situated  that  the  fugitive  had  not  more  than  twenty-five  or  thirty 
English  miles  at  most  to  flee.  And  as  in  most  cases  he  would  have  a  start  of  from 
one  to  twenty-four  hours,  he  would  generally  be  beyond  the  reach  of  his  pursuer  in 
the  course  of  a  day.  The  cities  of  refuge  were  all  Levitical,  and  therefore  in  a  pecul- 
iar sense  belonging  to  God,  who  shields  the  unintentional  manslayer.  The  elders  or 
council'  (niy)  of  the  city  of  refuge  shall  receive  him,  and  not  surrender  him  to  the 
avenger  of  blood  (Josh.  20:4,  5).  They  shall  hand  him  over  to  the  council  (niU) 
or  elders  of  his  own  city  (Num.  35  :  24,  25  ;  Deut.  10  :  12),  who  shall  decide  whether 
ne  be  guilty  of  manslaughter  or  murder,  and  in  the  former  case  "  restore  him  to  the 
city  of  his  refuge,"  and  in  the  latter  "  deliver  him  into  the  hand  of  the  avenger  of 
blood,  that  he  may  die."  14.  The  murderer,  as  he  acts  from  malice  prepense,  with 
presumptuous  daring  or  unmanly  guile,  is  here,  by  way  of  contrast  with  the  milder 
sentence  of  the  unpremeditating  manslayer,  emphatically  condemned  to  death,  from 
which  not  even  the  altar  of  God,  much  less  the  city  of  refuge,  shall  shelter  him.  This 
indicates  both  the  fact  that  the  altar  was  already  regarded  as  a  sacred  and  almost  in- 
violable asylum  for  the  defenceless,  on  account  of  its  intimate  connection  with  the 


EXODUS  XXI.  15-21.  157 

Supreme  Being,  and  tlie  reason  why  Levitical  cities,  which  belonged  specially  to  God, 
were  selected  as  cities  of  refuge. 

15.  In  this  second  enactment  we  pass  from  the  murderous  stroke  to  the  blow  of 
violence  inflicted  on  a  father  or  a  mother.  To  strike  a  parent,  even  though  the  blow 
be  not  fatal,  is  to  lift  the  hand  of  violence  against  the  author  of  our  being.  It  is  akin 
to  rebellion  against  God  himself,  the  great  Father  of  all.  It  is  here  regarded  with  such 
abhorrence  as  to  be  visited  with  the  penalty  of  death.  We  learn  from  this  and  other 
passages  (vs.  17  ;  Deut.  21  :  18-21)  that  wilful  and  obstinate  disrespect  to  parents  was 
a  crime  that  came  under  the  cognizance  of  the  civil  judge. 

16.  The  third  judgment  condemns  the  manstealer  to  death.  From  the  violent  blow 
we  proceed  to  the  violent  seizure.  To  steal  a  man  and  make  merchandise  of  him  is  by 
its  present  connection  regarded  as  aiming  a  blow  at  his  life.  It  is,  at  all  events, 
doing  violence  to  his  person,  and  therefore  comes  naturally  under  the  sixth  command- 
ment. It  differs  entirely  from  the  treatment  of  one  who  has  come  into  legitimate 
bondage,  to  which  the  previous  section  is  devoted.  This  enactment  leads  to  the 
remarkable  conclusion  that  the  stealing  or  selling  of  a  free  man  without  his  fault,  or 
against  his  will,  was  in  the  politj'-  of  Israel  a  crime  of  the  deepest  dye  ;  and  accord- 
ingly that  lawful  servitude  could  only  arise  from  the  consent  or  the  crime  of  the  serf 
(see  on  vs.  2-11).  This  form  of  the  law  differs  from  the  corresponding  one  in  Deut. 
24  :  7  in  the  universality  of  its  application. 

17.  The  preceding  enactments  refer  to  the  hand  of  meditated  violence  ;  the  fourth 
to  the  tongue.  Some  copies  of  the  Sept.,  regarding  the  parents  as  the  point  of  con- 
nection, transpose  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  verses.  But  the  Hebrew  arrange- 
ment rests  on  the  more  fundamental  gradation  from  the  hand  to  the  tongue.  Cursing 
father  or  mother  is  a  crime  cognate  with  the  breach  of  the  third  commandment.  The 
legislator  evidently  takes  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  principle  involved  in  the  sixth 
commandment,  similar  to  that  of  our  Lord  in  the  sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  5  :  21- 
26).  Hence  "  cursing,"  wishing  evil  to  a  parent,  is  treated  as  a  most  flagrant  breach 
of  this  commandment.  It  violates  the  majestj'"  of  God,  of  whom  the  parent  is  the 
natural  representative. 

18.  19.  In  this  fifth  "  judgment"  from  malice  prepense,  we  proceed  to  sudden  out- 
bursts of  violence  arising  from  strife  or  passion.  The  present  case  refers  to  strife  or 
angry  debate  between  equals.  From  words  they  come  to  blows.  A  bruise  is  inflicted 
with  a  stone  or  the  fist,  which  does  not  cause  death,  and  yet  confines  the  sufferer  to 
his  couch.  Here  both  parties  may  be  culpable  ;  and  if  the  disabled  man  so  far  re- 
cover as  to  walk  about  on  his  staff,  the  striker  is  only  to  pay  for  the  loss  of  time  and 
the  costs  of  the  remedy.  If,  however,  death  ensue,  either  in  the  strife  or  before  he 
leave  his  bed,  the  case  is  provided  for  by  the  first  enactment  of  this  section  (vs. 
12-14).  It  will  come  under  the  head  of  manslaughter,  unless  malice  prepense  can  be 
proved. 

20,  21.  The  sixth  law  refers  to  sudden  violence  on  the  part  of  a  master.  The  chas- 
tisement of  a  servant,  or  even  a  child,  with  a  rod  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
allowed  custom  of  the  times.  If,  therefore,  death  under  his  hand  should  follow,  it 
was  to  be  presumed  that  the  master  did  not  intend  to  kill  his  servant.  He  shall  surely 
he  punished.  If  he  had  without  intention  slain  a  free  man,  he  would  have  fled  to  the 
city  of  refuge,  and  remained  there  till  the  death  of  the  high  priest.  In  the  case  of  a 
bondsman,  then,  we  cannot  suppose,  with  the  Talmud,  that  the  penalty  was  death  by 
the  sword.     In  the  absence  of  an  avenger  of  blood  we  presume  the  elders  of  his  city 


158  THE    CIVIL   LAW. 

would  examine  whether  tlie  act  was  murder  or  manslaugliter,  and  deal  with  him  ac- 
cording to  the  spirit  of  the  first  enactment  (vs.  12-14).  This  would  involve  at  least 
banishment  to  the  nearest  city  of  refuge  for  the  usual  time.  But  it  is  possible  that 
death  resulting  from  the  excess  of  a  legitimate  mode  of  chastisement  was  punished  by 
a  fine  of  thirty  shekels  or  upward,  the  average  value  of  a  slave,  along  with  the  cost  of 
burial  and  the  maintenance  of  the  surviving  family.  This  is  favored  by  the  decision 
that  if  the  slave  survive  a  few  days  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  he  did  not  intend  to 
compass  his  death,  and  the  loss  of  the  slave  is  to  be  counted  as  a  fine  for  the  abuse  of 
power. 

22-25.  This  seventh  decision  passes  to  bodily  injuries  that  fall  short  of  the  loss  of 
life.  In  the  case  of  strife  or  bodily  conflict  it  is  not  unnatural  for  the  softer  sex  to 
interfere  by  their  entreaties  or  personal  efforts  to  restore  peace  or  protect  the  party  in 
whom  they  are  interested.  A  woman  with  child  may  thus  be  injured,  and  abortion 
take  place  without  any  further  mischief  resulting.  The  offender  is  in  this  case  to  be 
fined  according  to  the  damages  laid  on  by  the  husband  and  regulated  and  enforced 
by  the  judges.  The  rendering  of  the  Sept.  iieTo.  a^iu/uaroc,  is  free,  but  according  to  the 
sense.  Some  understand  "  her  fruit  departing  from  her"  of  piemature  birth,  and 
refer  the  "  mischief"  to  the  loss  of  either  the  mother's  or  the  child's  life.  23.  If  mis- 
chief follow,  the  decision  is,  "  thou  shalt  give  life  for  life."  The  lextalion  is  or  law  of 
retaliation  is  here  laid  down  as  the  great  principle  by  which  the  magistrate  is  to  be 
guided  in  the  administration  of  justice.  A  great  deal  of  unreasonable  obloquy  has 
been  heaped  upon  this  law,  as  if  it  inculcated  or  im.plied  the  right  of  private  revenge. 
A  little  reflection  will  show  that  it  is  the  simple  and  only  principle  of  all  retributive 
justice.  If  two  men  were  the  only  intelligent  beings  in  existence,  neither  would  have 
any  right  to  hurt  or  apply  any  force  to  the  other.  On  the  other  hand,  the  law  of  self- 
love  would  suggest  the  obligation  to  love  the  other  as  himself.  If  the  one  did  injure 
the  other,  the  latter  would  not  thereby  acquire  any  right  to  injure  the  former  to  the 
same  or  to  any  amount,  or  to  quench  or  abate  the  feeling  of  benevolence  already  enter- 
tained toward  him.  But  he  would  have  the  right  of  laying  his  cause  before  the  ulti- 
mate fountain  of  all  authority.  And  it  is  clear  as  day  that  the  Creator  is  the  supreme 
judge  of  all  his  creatures,  and  is  bound  by  the  simple  law  of  equity  to  indemnify  the 
sufferer  and  to  impose  an  adequate  penalty  on  the  offender.  This  and  this  alone  is 
the  true  import  of  the  lex  talionis.  It  is  merely  the  law  of  equity  expressed  thus  :  as 
is  the  offence,  such  is  to  be  the  penalty.  But  its  administrator  is  not  the  private  indi- 
vidual, but  the  duly  authorized  magistrate.  The  error  of  many  Jews  in  our  Lord's 
time  (Matt.  5  :  38-48),  and  of  the  carnal  mind  in  all  times,  is  to  assume  the  right  and 
indulge  the  spirit  of  private  revenge,  to  the  extinction  of  that  spirit  of  love  which 
ought  to  actuate  the  breast  of  one  intelligent  being  toward  another.  But  this  does  not 
touch  the  abstract  principle  of  equity,  or  the  authority  and  obligation  of  the  civil 
magistrate  to  maintain  it  between  man  and  man,  24.  The  arrangement  of  the  mem- 
bers here  is  obvious.  25.  The  fire,  the  sword,  or  other  sharp  instrument,  and  the  fist 
or  some  blunt  instrument  inflict  these  injuries.  It  is  expressly  stated  (Num.  35  :  31,  32) 
that  no  satisfaction  (-^^^  expiation,  redemption)  is  to  be  taken  for  the  penalties  of 
murder  and  manslaughter.  This  implies  that  satisfaction  or  commutation  of  punish- 
ment was  known  and  practised,  and  that  it  was  admissible  in  other  cases. 

26,  27.  The  eighth  enactment  jorovides  for  the  case  of  a  slave  being  mutilated  by 
his  master.  The  loss  of  an  eye  or  a  tooth  by  violence  is  to  be  compensated  by  the 
emancipation  of  the  slave.     This  is  a  clear  case  of  commutation.     These  verses  in  the 


EXODUS  XXI.   28-36.  159 

Hebrew  close  an  open  parasha,  or  greater  section,  obviously  because  the  legislator 
now  passes  from  injuries  done  by  men  to  injuries  inflicted  by  cattle.  But  we  conceive 
that  injuries  done  to  men  and  injuries  to  property  form  the  fundamental  basis  of 
division. 

28-31.  The  ninth  judgment  refers  to  the  goring  of  a  free  man  by  an  ox.  If  death 
ensue,  the  ox  is  to  be  stoned,  and  his  flesh  is  not  to  be  eaten.  The  loss  of  the  ox  is 
to  stand  for  the  penalty  of  the  owner,  if  he  be  otherwise  blameless.  The  law  is  re- 
markably earnest  in  the  protection  of  human  life.  29.  If  the  ox  be  dangerous,  and  the 
owner  have  been  advised  of  it  and  have  not  kept  him  in,  then  the  ox  is  to  be  stoned, 
and  the  owner  also  put  to  death.  30.  But  a  commutation  of  punishment  is  expressly 
allowed  in  this  case.  31.  The  child  is  to  be  equally  protected  with  the  full-grown 
man. 

32.  The  tenth  and  last  of  this  group  of  laws  applies  to  the  case  of  a  slave  being 
gored  by  an  ox.  The  redemption  price  is  in  this  case  fixed  at  thirty  shekels  of  silver. 
Estimating  the  shekel  at  two  hundred  and  twenty  grains  of  silver,  or  about  2s.  3d., 
we  find  thirty  shekels  equal  to  £3  7s.  Gd.  If  the  relative  value  of  silver  was  formerly 
greater  than  now,  the  estimated  value  of  a  slave  must  be  proportionately  increased. 
Some  suppose  it  was,  in  the  time  of  Moses,  ten  or  twenty  times  its  present  value.  A 
freeman  above  twenty  and  under  sixty  years  of  age  was  estimated  at  fifty  shekels  of 
silver,  a  woman  at  thirty.  For  other  ages,  the  estimates  varied  according  to  a  fixed 
rule  (Lev.  27  : 1-8).  A  close  section,  or  minor  paragraph  of  the  Hebrew  text,  here 
terminates,  because  the  laws  relative  to  the  ox  are  not  yet  completed.  The  laws  refer- 
ring to  the  defence  of  life,  however,  are  at  this  point  separated  from  those  treating  of 
the  protection  of  property.     This  is,  therefore,  the  second  break  in  this  civil  code. 

It  IS  here  to  be  noted  that  the  distinction  of  intentional  or  unintentional,  which  is 
signalized  in  the  first  of  these  enactments,  runs  through  the  whole,  and  modifies  the 
degree  of  guilt  and  the  amount  of  the  penalty. 

in.    LAWS    OF   PEOPEETY. 

21  :  33-22  :  14  (15).  From  man  invested  with  the  bare  rights  of  nature  we  now  rise 
to  man  endowed  with  the  acquired  rights  of  property.  Adam,  as  soon  as  he  came 
from  his  Maker' s  hand,  had  the  right  of  personal  inviolability^  As  soon  as  his  Maker 
diade  him  a  formal  gi-ant  of  all  the  trees  of  the  garden  that  were  suitable  for  him  he 
had  received  the  right  of  property,  which  assumed  an  endless  variety  of  forms  in  the 
[progressive  development  of  the  race. 

33,  34.  The  first  "  judgment"  refers  to  the  case  of  a  man  opening  a  pit  already 
made  and  covered,  or  digging  a  pit,  and  in  either  case  leaving  it  uncovered.  If  an  ox 
or  an  ass  fall  therein  and  be  killed,  the  owner  of  the  pit  shall  make  it  good.  The 
money  value  he  shall  give  to  the  owner  of  the  animal,  and  himself  retain  the  dead. 
This  is  a  good  instance  of  the  lex  talionis,  varied  by  commutation,  and  exhibited  as  in 
principle  the  return  of  an  equivalent. 

35,  36.  In  the  second  enactment  it  is  provided  that  where  an  ox  gores  another  to 
death  the  owners  shall  divide  equally  the  value  of  the  living  and  the  dead  animals. 
But  if  the  live  ox  was  addicted  to  goring,  his  owner  shall  pay  ox  for  ox,  and  the  dead 
shall  be  his.  It  is  obvious  that  to  jjay  ox  for  ox  is  to  give  either  an  ox  of  equal  value 
or  the  fair  price  of  the  ox  killed. 

In  the  English  version  this  chapter  ends  here.     This  division  corresponds  with  a 


160  THE    CIVIL    LAW. 

minor  section  of  the  Masoretic  text,  and  with  the  sense.  But  a  more  appropriate  end- 
ing for  the  chapter  would  have  been  at  vs.  34,  where  the  legislator  passes  from  the 
subject  of  personal  safety  to  that  of  property. 

CHAP.  XXII. LAWS  OP  PROPERTY  AND  CONJUGAL  FIDELITY. 

18.  F]^'2)0  enchantei-'  or  sorcerer  (7  :  11).  ijyr;')  wizard^  one  wise  in  black  arts. 
n^*5^^  the  ghost  of  the  departed  conjured  up  to  give  answers  concerning  the 
future.     These  two  terms  generally  occur  together,  and  refer  to  the  necromancer. 

20,  □"^n  to  'prohibit  from  common  use,  to  devote  to  God  without  possibility  of 
redemption  (Lev.  27  :  28,  29),  and  hence  utterly  to  destroy  and  exterminate. 

29.  HK^D  the  fulness  of  the  corn  harvest  ;  the  first-fruits  of  this  fulness  offered 
to  God  in  grateful  acknowledgment.  ]J101  ^^^  ^^^^i  ^^e  trickling  juice  of  the 
fruit-tree  harvest,  of  which  the  first-fruits  were  also  to  be  presented  to  the 
Lord. 

XXII.  1.  If  a  man  steal  an  ox  or  a  sheep,  and  kill  it  or  sell  it,  he  shall  restore  five 
oxen  for  an  ox  and  four  sheep  for  a  sheep. 

2.  If  the  thief  be  found  breaking  in,  and  be  smitten  that  he  die,  there  shall  be  no 
blood  for  him.  3.  If  the  sun  be  risen  upon  him,  there  shall  be  blood  for  him  ;  he 
shall  make  full  restitution  ;  if  he  have  nothing,  then  he  shall  be  sold  for  his  theft.  4. 
If  the  theft  be  certainly  found  in  his  hand  alive,  be  it  ox,  or  ass,  or  sheep,  he  shall 
restore  double.  §  45. 

5.  If  a  man  graze  on  a  field  or  vineyard,  and  put  in  his  beast  and  graze  on  another's 
field,  of  the  best  of  his  field  and  of  the  best  of  his  vineyard  shall  he  restore.  §  46. 

6.  If  a  fire  break  out  and  catch  on  thorns,  and  a  stack  of  corn,  or  the  standing  corn, 
or  the  field  be  consumed,  he  that  kindleth  the  fire  shall  surely  make  restitution.      §  47. 

7.  If  a  man  shall  deliver  unto  his  neighbor  money  or  stuff  to  keep,  and  it  be  stolen 
out  of  the  man's  house  ;  if  the  thief  be  found,  he  shall  restore  double.  8.  If  the 
thief  be  not  found,  then  the  master  of  the  house  shall  be  brought  unto  God,  to  swear 
that  he  hath  not  put  his  hand  unto  his  neighbor's  goods. 

9.  For  all  manner  of  trespass,  for  ox,  for  ass,  for  sheep,  for  raiment,  for  anything 
lost,  if  one  say  that  that  is  it,  the  cause  of  both  parties  shall  come  unto  God  ;  and 
whom  God  shall  condemn,  he  shall  restore  double  to  his  neighbor.  §  48. 

10.  If  a  man  deliver  unto  his  neighbor  an  ass,  or  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,  or  any  beast  to 
keep,  and  it  die  or  be  hurt  or  taken  away,  no  man  seeing  ;  11.  An  oath  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  between  them  both,  that  he  hath  not  put  his  hand  to  his  neighbor's  goods  ; 
and  the  owner  of  it  shall  accept  this  ;  and  he  shall  not  make  it  good.  12.  And  if  it  be 
stolen  from  him,  he  shall  make  it  good  to  the  owner  thereof.  13.  If  it  be  torn  in 
pieces,  he  shall  bring  it  for  witness  :  he  shall  not  make  good  that  Avhich  was  torn.  IT  35. 

14.  And  if  a  man  borrow  aught  of  his  neighbor,  and  it  be  hurt  or  die  ;  if  the  owner 
thereof  be  not  with  it,  he  shall  surely  make  it  good.  15.  If  the  owner  thereof  be  with 
it,  he  shall  not  make  it  good  ;  if  it  be  hired,  it  went  for  its  hire.  §  49. 

16.  And  if  a  man  entice  a  maid  that  is  not  betrothed  and  lie  with  her,  he  shall 
surely  endow  her  to  be  his  wife.  17.  If  her  father  utterly  refuse  to  give  her  unto 
him,  he  shall  pay  money  according  to  the  dowry  of  virgins.  §  50. 

18.  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live. 

19.  Whosoever  lieth  with  a  beast  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  §  51. 

20.  He  that  sacrificeth  to  any  god,  save  unto  the  Lord  only,  shall  be  devoted  to 
death. 

21.  And  thou  shalt  not  vex  a  stranger  or  oppress  him  ;  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the 
land  of  Mizraim.  22.  Ye  shall  not  afflict  any  widow  or  fatherless  child.  23.  If  thou 
afflict  them  in  any  wise,  and  they  cry  at  all  unto  me,  I  will  surely  hear  their  cry.  24. 
And  my  wrath  shall  wax  hot,  and  I  will  slay  you  with  the  sword  :  and  your  wives 
shall  be  widows  and  your  children  fatherless,  "if  36. 


EXODUS   XXII.    1-8.  161 

^^.  If  thou  lend  money  to  any  of  my  people  that  is  poor  by  thee,  thou  shalt  not  be 
to  him  as  a  usurer  :  thou  shalt  not  lay  upon  him  usury. 

26.  If  thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbor' s  raiment  to  pledge,  thou  shalt  restore  it  to  him 
at  the  going  down  of  the  sun.  27.  For  that  is  his  only  covering  ;  that  is  his  raiment 
for  his  skin  :  wherein  shall  he  sleep  ?  and  it  will  come  to  pass  that  he  shall  cry  unto 
me  and  I  will  hear  ;  for  I  am  merciful.  §  52. 

28.  Thou  shalt  not  revile  God  nor  curse  a  prince  among  thy  people. 

29,  Thou  shalt  not  delay  the  first-fruits  of  thy  corn  and  of  thy  wine  :  the  first- 
born of  thy  sons  shalt  thou  give  unto  me.  30.  So  shalt  thou  do  with  thine  ox,  and 
thy  sheep  :  seven  days  shall  it  be  with  its  dam  ;  on  the  eighth  day  shalt  thou  give  it 
me. 

31.  And  ye  shall  be  holy  men  unto  me  ;  neither  shall  je  eat  flesh  that  is  torn  of 
beasts  in  the  fields  ;  ye  shaU  cast  it  to  the  dog.  §  53. 


1.  In  this  third  law  we  proceed  from  injuries  to  property  arising  from  inadvertence 
or  negligence  to  those  which  are  intentional.  The  case  of  the  thief  having  got  oft 
with  his  booty  and  killed  or  sold  it  is  placed  first.  The  fivefold  and  fourfold  resti- 
tution is  intended  to  cover  the  time,  trouble,  and  cost  which  the  theft  may  in  this 
case  have  occasioned  over  and  above  the  mere  loss  of  the  animal  stolen.  The  theft 
of  an  ox  involves  in  this  respect  a  somewhat  greater  accompanying  loss  than  that  of  a 
sheep,  and  this  is  allowed  for  in  the  fivefold  restitution. 

This  verse  is  attached  to  the  preceding  chapter  in  the  original,  seemingly  because, 
like  the  previous  verses,  it  treats  of  oxen.  But  as  it  treats  of  theft  it  is  preferable, 
with  the  English  version,  to  connect  it  with  the  following  verses,  which  refer  to  the 
same  subject. 

2-4.  The  fourth  enactment  treats  of  a  thief  caught  in  the  act.  This  gives  rise  to 
three  cases  :  (1.)  He  loses  his  life  by  night.  In  this  case  no  blood  is  to  be  shed  for 
him.  By  his  nightly  intrusion  he  endangers  life  directly  or  indirectly.  His  life  is  the 
forfeit  of  his  intended  crime.  (2.)  If  he  be  smitten  by  day,  the  slayer  shall  suffer  ; 
because  there  is  no  necessity  for  his  death.  He  has  been  seen,  and  if  he  get  off  he 
can  be  overtaken  by  justice,  and  compelled  to  make  restitution  as  already  prescribed. 
Jf  he  have  nothing,  and  therefore  cannot  make  the  required  restitution,  he  is  to  he  sold 
for  his  theft.  This  is  a  clear  case  of  servitude  being  the  judicial  penalty  of  crime. 
(3.)  If  the  thing  stolen  be  found  alive  in  his  hand,  and  therefore  without  the  trouble 
and  cost  of  a  tedious  search,  he  shall  restore  double. 

5.  The  fifth  decision  regards  the  introduction  by  fraud  or  negligence  of  cattle  into 
the  field,  especially  the  grain-field  or  vineyard,  of  a  neighbor.  It  is  presumed  that 
the  damage  occurs  by  carelessness.  At  all  events  compensation  to  the  full  amount  is 
to  be  made  from  the  best  of  the  trespasser's  field  or  vineyard. 

6.  The  sixth  refers  to  the  breaking  out  of  fire  in  a  stack,  or  standing  corn,  or  a 
field.  It  is  customary  in  pastoral  districts  to  kindle  fires  in  the  fields  at  all  seasons  ; 
and  it  is  not  unusual  to  set  fire  to  the  herbage  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
fertility  of  the  soil.  If  the  wind  and  the  lie  of  the  field  are  not  attentively  considered, 
there  is  much  danger  of  the  fire  spreading  either  to  the  standing  or  to  the  garnered 
grain.  The  careless  kind] er  of  the  fire  is  to  make  restitution  for  the  damage  done. 
This  is  analogous  to  the  preceding  case.  The  other  cases  also  in  this  section  go 
together  to  a  certain  extent  in  pairs. 

7.  8.  The  following  determinations  refer  to  the  intrusting  of  property,  either  as  a 
deposit  or  a  loan.  In  the  present  case,  money  or  articles  of  any  kind  are  intrusted  to 
another.      If  the  thing  intrusted  be  stolen,  and  the  thief  be  caught,  he  shall  restore 


162  THE    CIVIL   LAW. 

double.  If  not,  the  trustee  is  called  upon  to  make  oath  before  God  that  he  has  not 
put  his  hand  to  his  neighbor' s  goods.     If  he  can  do  so,  he  is  acquitted, 

9.  But  if  he  do  not  clear  himself  in  this  way,  he  comes  under  the  present  regula- 
tion. This  applies  to  any  kind  of  thing  missing,  or  said  to  be  missing,  that  is  found 
with  a  man  who  denies  it,  while  it  is  challenged  by  another  as  that  very  thing  which 
he  has  lost.  This  is  evidently  a  case  of  some  complication  and  difl&culty.  It  is  to 
come  before  the  delegates  of  the  Most  High  for  adjudication,  and  he  with  whom  the 
article  missing  is  adjudged  to  be  found,  though  denied,  is  to  restore  double, 

10-13,  This  regulation  refers  to  animals  committed  to  the  keeping  of  another.  The 
Eabbins  make  a  distinction  between  paid  and  unpaid  trustees  ;  the  latter  being  in- 
trusted merely  with  money  or  articles  that  require  only  house-room,  the  former  with 
cattle  that  require  sustenance.  It  is  obvious  that  in  this  case  the  caretaker  must  be 
remunerated  at  least  for  the  cost  of  the  animal's  keep.  If  the  animal  die,  or  be 
maimed,  or  carried  off  secretly,  and  the  guardian  make  oath  that  he  is  innocent  of  the 
loss,  he  shall  not  make  it  good.  13.  If  it  be  torn  by  a  wild  beast,  and  he  bring  the 
remains  of  it  as  a  proof,  he  is  to  be  acquitted. 

This  verse  terminates  a  major  section  of  the  Masoretic  text,  because  the  next  refers 
not  to  trusteeship,  but  to  lending.  But  the  two  following  verses  relate  to  property  as 
well  as  the  preceding  ;  while  the  subsequent  verses  relate  to  conjugal  fidelity.  The 
major  division  should  in  this  view  be  placed  after  the  fifteenth  verse  of  the  English 
version,  or  the  fourteenth  of  the  Hebrew  text. 

14,  15.  The  tenth  regulation  of  this  law  section  refers  to  borrowing  any  article  or 
animal  from  a  neighbor.  If  it  be  injured  or  killed  in  the  absence  of  the  owner  it  is 
to  be  made  good.  But  if  the  owner  be  present  the  thing  borrowed  is  not  to  be  made 
good  ;  and  if  hired,  it  is  to  go  for  its  hire. 

rv.    LAWS    ON    CONJUGAL   FLDELITY, 

16-31.  The  regulations  under  this  head  are  somewhat  miscellaneous.  To  give  a 
unity  to  them  we  must  suppose  the  relation  between  God  and  his  people  to  be  sym- 
bolized by  that  between  husband  and  wife  ;  and  we  must  regard  God  as  the  avowed 
guardian  and  representative  of  the  stranger,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan.  The  cove- 
nant between  God  and  his  people  (Gen,  9  :  9-17  ;  15  :  18  ;  17  : 1-24  ;  Ex.  6  : 4,  5  ; 
19  : 5,  6),  in  which  he  engages  to  be  their  God,  and  takes  them  to  be  his  people,  war- 
rants the  former  symbol,  which  becomes  frequent  in  the  later  scriptures.  The  stranger 
(Gen,  15  :  13  ;  Ex,  20  :  10),  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  are  special  classes  of  the  un- 
protected, whom  God  will  hear  if  they  be  oppressed  and  cry  unto  him  (Ex.  2  :  23, 
24  ;  3  :  9). 

16-17.  The  first  precept  affords  protection  to  the  unbetrothed  female  who  is  enticed 
or  beguiled  into  unchastity.  The  enticer  shall  endow  her  io  be  his  loife.  The  dowry 
was  a  portion  given  by  the  bridegroom  for  his  bride  to  her  parents  (Gen.  29  :  18-20  ; 
34  :  12  ;  1  Sam.  18  :  25).  The  present  passage  favors  the  supposition  that  it  was 
originally  intended  for  the  use  of  the  bride.  If  the  father  refuse  to  give  her,  he  shall 
pay  money  according  io  the  dowry  of  virgins.  To  pay  money  is  here  to  weigh  silver  which 
was  not  yet  coined.  The  sum  afterward  fixed  by  law  was  fifty  shekels  of  silver 
(Deut.  22  :  29). 

18.  The  second  judgment.     A  wizard  (^jyi^)  is  one  who  endeavors  to  accomplish 


EXODUS  XXII.  19-25.  163 

a  selfish  end  by  the  powers  of  darkness.*  The  masculine  form  of  the  term 
here  employed  (nCti^^D)  denotes  a  sorcerer  or  enchanter,  who  employs  the  charm  or 
miittered  chant  to  bring  a  preternatural  power  to  his  aid  (Ex.  5  :  11).  The  practiser 
of  such  arts,  or  the  pretender  to  them,  is  by  the  very  fact  an  apostate  from  God,  a 
breaker  of  that  solemn  and  gracious  covenant  which  he  has  made  with  his  people, 
and  a  traitor  to  the  theocracy  under  which  he  lives.  And  his  example  at  least  would 
tempt  the  people  to  all  these  crimes.  Such  a  one  is,  accordingly,  not  to  be  suffered 
to  live.  The  penalty  for  witchcraft  is  stoning  (Lev.  20  :  27),  and  this,  no  doubt,  ex- 
tended to  all  its  forms.  The  phrase  nTHl  N  ?  ^^  employed  to  denote  the  immediate 
and  extreme  necessity  of  exterminating  this  lurking  form  of  enmity  against  God  and 
man.  The  male  and  female  are  no  doubt  included  in  this  judgment  ;  but  the  wizard 
seems  to  have  been  less  common  than  the  witch. 

19.  The  third  rule  condemns  an  unnatural  crime  of  the  kind  that  rendered  Sodom 
infamous.  Such  a  crime  implies  a  being  dead  to  all  fear  of  God  as  much  as  to  the 
very  instincts  of  nature. 

20.  The  fourth  law  declares  the  man  who  sacrifices  to  any  being  but  the  true  God  to 
be  accursed,  and  therefore  given  over  to  extermination. 

21-24.  This  fifth  provision,  as  well  as  the  two  following,  has  reference  to  the  un- 
protected classes — the  stranger,  the  widow,  the  fatherless,  and  the  poor.  Thou  shali 
not  vex.  This  word  signifies  to  harass  by  unAvorthy  treatment,  and  is  followed  by  an- 
other implying  a  greater  degree  of  violence  and  injustice.  A  stranger.  While  the 
Lord  is  constrained  by  the  ungodliness  of  the  world  to  select  for  himself  a  people 
whom  he  may  teach  and  bless,  the  stranger  is  to  be  peculiarly  welcome  among  this 
people,  and  every  facility  afforded  for  their  admission  into  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  theocracy.  Whatever,  therefore,  may  have  been  the  conduct  of  Israel  in  differ- 
ent periods  of  her  history,  it  is  clear  that  the  God  of  Israel  and  his  ministers  are  to 
be  completely  exonerated  from  the  charge  of  exclusiveness.  The  stranger  is  not  to  be 
discouraged  or  oppressed,  but  welcomed  to  sojourn  and  even  to  be  incorporated  in  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel.  For  ye  were  strangers.  An  affecting  appeal  is  here  made  to 
the  bondage  which  seven  weeks  could  not  have  effaced  from  their  memories.  A  pro- 
vision was  made,  as  we  have  already  seen,  for  the  stranger  being  admitted  to  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  Passover  (12  :  48),  and  allowed  and  required  to  observe  the  Sabbath 
(20  :  10).  We  shall  meet  with  other  tokens  of  consideration  for  the  stranger  as  we 
proceed  (Lev.  19  : 9  ;  23  :  22  ;  Deut.  14  :  28,  29  ;  16  :  11-14  ;  24  :  17-22  ;  26  :  11-13). 
22.  Ye  shall  not  afflict,  tread  down  or  oppress.  Ajiy  widow  or  fatherless  child.  There  is 
a  touching  nicety  and  correctness  in  the  use  of  fatherless  child  for  orphan  in  the  Eng- 
lish version  ;  inasmuch  as  the  decease  of  the  father  leaves  both  the  widow  and  the 
child  without  their  natural  protector  and  sustainer,  whereas  the  motherless  child  has 
still  the  father  as  its  stay.  23,  24.  God  threatens  to  be  the  avenger  of  the  widow  and 
the  fatherless  by  bringing  the  sword  of  war  on  the  ruthless  oppressors. 

25.  The  sixth  ordinance  requires  that  no  usury  or  interest  be  taken  upon  money 
lent  to  the  poor.  The  poor  may  be  regarded  as  a  fourth  class  of  the  dependent,  who 
were  exposed  to  base  and  cruel  wrong  in  ancient  times.  The  Lord  declares  himself 
the  affectionate  and  resolute  guardian  of  the  poor,  and  inculcates  upon  his  people  a  re- 
gard for  the  feelings  of  humanity,  which  had  been  almost  extinguished  in  the  heathen 

*  The  yonng  sometimes  aseume  that  this  law  implies  the  exercise  of  supernatiiial  power  by  SHch 
persons.  But  this  does  not  follow.  The  imposition  on  the  fears  or  the  credulity  of  men  in  the  wizard's 
way  is  itself  crime  enough  to  merit  the  severest  punishment.— J.  H. 


164  THE    CIVIL  "LAW. 

world.     The  lending  of  money  for  a  percentage  to  the  wealthy  for  commercial  opera- 
tions is  not  contemplated  in  this  precept. 

26,  27.  The  seventh  is  the  law  of  pledges,  which  was  much  restricted  in  considera- 
tion of  the  poor.  The  receiver  was  not  at  liberty  to  enter  the  house,  but  must  wait  at 
the  door  for  the  pledge  (Deut.  24  :  10-13).  He  must  also  restore  it  at  sunset.  The 
garment  referred  to  was  a  large  shawl  or  plaid,  now  called  haik,  which  was  worn  by 
day,  and  was  the  covering  of  the  poor  man,  who  threw  himself  on  his  couch  with  his 
clothes  on,  by  night.     The  "  merciful  "  God  will  hear  the  cry  of  the  wretched  poor. 

28.  The  eighth  precept  condemns  the  blasphemer.  God  is  here  contemplated  as 
the  author  of  that  providence  which  dispenses  the  affairs  of  men.  He  is  virtually  a 
breaker  of  covenant  with  God  who  rails  at  his  providential  dealings.  The  selfish  heart 
is  prone  to  murmur  against  the  Almighty,  whether  he  be  regarded  as  the  withholder 
of  prosperity  or  the  restrainer  of  crime.  But  the  afflicted  poor  and  the  disajjpointed 
oppressor  are  alike  warned  against  the  temptation  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  God. 
The  prince  is  conjoined  with  God  as  the  minister  of  his  law  and  the  magistrate  of  his 
people  in  a  theocratic  state.  The  responsibility  to  rule  for  God  belongs  to  all  sover- 
eigns, and  the  obligation  to  honor  the  ruler  rests  upon  all  subjects. 

29,  30.  The  ninth  is  the  general  law  of  first-fruits  and  firstlings.  Thou  shalt  not 
delay,  keep  back  or  withhold.  The  fir  si-fruits  of  thy  corn  and  of  thy  wine,  the  fulness  of 
the  harvest  and  the  trickling  juice  of  the  vintage  were  to  come  in  the  first-fruits  to 
God,  who  gave  them.  This  is  more  fully  ordered  afterward  (Lev.  23  :  10-21  ;  Deut. 
18  :  4).  The  first-horn  of  thy  sons.  This  has  been  already  arranged  (13  : 2).  On  the 
eighth  day.  After  seven  days  the  offspring  has  a  hold  of  life  and  individuality  (Gen. 
17  :  12),     It  is  then  fit  to  be  presented  to  God. 

The  offering  of  the  first  of  everything  is  the  acknowledgment  that  all  is  due  to  God, 
and  the  token  of  a  soul  in  covenant  with  him.  This  precept,  therefore,  comports 
with  the  general  principle  of  faithfulness  to  covenant  engagements. 

31.  The  tenth  ordinance  inculcates  sanctity.  Sanctity  of  the  outward  person  is 
symbolic  of  that  purity  of  heart  that  ought  to  characterize  those  who  are  in  communion 
with  God.  That  which  was  torn  was  imperfectly  separated  from  the  blood,  which  is 
the  life,  and  was  otherwise  unclean.     The  dog  was  the  emblem  of  the  unbeliever. 

CHAP.    XXIII. LAWS    OP    VERACITY,    OF    SET    TIMES,    AND    OP    PIETY. 

6.  "ifi^K  ^^^  needy^  who  feels  the  pinchings  of  want  ;  r.  desire,  want.  ^-]  the  de- 
pendent ;  r.  liang,  swing. 

11.  [210l£^  ^^  remit  or  release  from  cultivation.  Hence  ntSDI^  release^  cessation 
from  agricultural  labor. 

XXni.  1.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  a  false  report  :  put  not  thy  hand  with  the  wicked 
to  be  a  wrongful  witness.  2.  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude  to  evil.  Neither 
shalt  thou  answer  in  a  cause  to  lean  after  a  multitude  to  wrong.  3.  Neither  shalt 
thou  countenance  a  poor  man  in  his  cause.  §  54. 

4.  If  thou  meet  thine  enemy's  ox  or  his  ass  going  astray,  thou  shalt  surely  bring  it 
back  to  him  again.  §  55. 

5.  If  thou  see  the  ass  of  him  that  hateth  thee  Ijdng  under  his  burden,  then  thou 
shalt  forbear  to  leave  him,  thou  shalt  surely  leave  with  him.  §  56. 

6.  Thou  shalt  not  wrest  the  judgment  of  thy  needy  in  his  cause.  7.  Thou  shalt  be 
far  from  a  false  matter  :  and  the  innocent  and  righteous  slay  thou  not  ;  for  I  will  not 
justify  the  wicked.     8.  And  thou  shalt  not  take  a  gift  ;  for  the  gift  blindeth  the  open- 


EXODUS  XXIII.    1-9.  165 

eyed,  and  perrerteth  the  T^ord  of  the  righteous.     9.  And  thou  shalt  not  oppress  a 
Mizraim  '  ^^      ^^^^         ^^^^^  °^  ^  stranger  ;  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of 

10.  And  six  years  shalt  thou  sow  thy  land  and  gather  in  the  fruit  thereof  11  But 
the  seventh  year  thou  shalt  let  it  rest  and  lie  ;  and  the  needy  of  thy  people  shall  eat 
and  what  they  leave  the  beast  of  the  field  shall  eat.  So  shalt  thou  do  to  thy  vinevarj 
and  thy  olive.  "^  ''^ 

12.  Six  days  shalt  thou  do  thy  work,  and  on  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest  •  that 
thme  ox  and  thine  ass  may  rest,  and  the  son  of  thy  handmaid  and  the  stranger  may 
be  refreshed.  13.  And  in  all  that  I  have  said  to  you  be  circumspect  ;  and  mention 
not  the  name  of  other  gods,  nor  let  it  be  heard  out  of  thy  mouth. 

14  Three  times  shalt  thou  keep  a  feast  unto  me  in  the  year.  15.  Thou  shalt  keep 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  :  seven  days  shalt  thou  eat  unleavened  bread,  as  I  com- 
manded thee  m  the  set  time  of  the  month  Abib  ;  for  in  it  thou  camest  out  from 
Mizraim :  and  none  shall  appear  before  me  empty  :  16.  And  the  feast  of  harvest,  the 
first-fruits  of  thy  labors,  which  thou  sowest  in  the  field  :  and  the  feast  of  in-gathering 
in  the  end  of  the  year,  when  thou  gatherest  in  thy  labors  out  of  the  field  17  Three 
times  m  the  year  all  thy  males  shall  appear  before  the  Lord  Jehovah 
v,\^i\P^^.^¥^*^?*°^®^^^®  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with  leavened  bread;  neither 
shall  the  fat  of  my  feast  rei;iain  until  the  morning.  19.  The  first  of  the  first-fruits  of 
thy  ground  thou  shalt  bring  into  the  house  of  the  Lokd  thy  God.  Thou  shalt  not 
seethe  a  kid  m  its  mother's  milk.  §36. 

•  ?0- ^^^^old  I  send  an  angel  before  thee  :  to  keep  thee  in  the  way,  and  to  bring  thee 
into  the  place  which  I  have  prepared.  21.  Beware  of  him,  and  hear  his  voice  •  pro- 
voke him  not  :  for  he  will  not  pardon  your  transgressions  ;  for  my  name  is  in  him 
ZZ.  t  or  If  thou  indeed  hear  his  voice,  and  do  all  that  I  speak,  then  will  I  be  an 
enemy  unto  thme  enemies  and  an  adversary  to  thine  adversaries.  23  For  mine 
angel  shall  go  before  thee,  and  bring  thee  to  the  Amorite  and  the  Ilittite,  and  the 
Perizzite  and  the  Kenaanite,  the  Hivite  and  the  Jebusite  ;  and  I  will  cut  them  off 
i\  i  r  1  ^°*  ^°^  ^°^^  *°  *^®^^  gods  nor  serve  them,  nor  do  after  their  works  • 
but  thou  Shalt  utterly  overthrow  them,  and  quite  break  down  their  pillars  25  And 
ye  shaU  serve  the  Loed  your  God  :  and  he  shall  bless  thy  bread  and  thy  water"-  and 
take  away  sickness  from  the  midst  of  thee.  §  57.  26.  None  shall  miscarry  ir  be 
barren  m  thy  land  :  the  number  of  thy  days  I  will  fulfil.  27.  I  will  send  my  fear  be- 
fore thee  and  confound  all  the  people  to  whom  thou  comest  ;  and  make  all  thine 
enemies  turn  their  back  unto  thee.  28.  And  I  will  send  the  hornet  before  thee  ;  and 
It  shall  cb-ive  out  the  Hivite,  the  Kenaanite,  and  the  Hittite  from  before  thee  29  I 
will  not  di'ive  him  out  from  before  thee  in  one  year,  lest  the  land  become  desolate, 
and  the  beast  of  the  field  multiply  against  thee.  30.  By  little  and  little  I  will  drive 
him  out  from  before  thee,  until  thou  be  fruitful  and  inherit  the  land.  31  And  I  will 
set  thy  border  from  the  Bed  Sea  even  to  the  sea  of  the  Philistines,  and  from  the  wil- 
derness unto  the  river  :  for  I  will  deliver  into  your  hand  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  ; 
and  thou  sha  t  drive  them  out  before  thee.  32.  Thou  shalt  make  no  covenant  with 
them  nor  with  their  gods.  33.  They  shall  not  dwell  in  thy  land,  lest  they  make  thee 
sm  against  me  :  for  thou  wilt  serve  their  gods  ;  for  it  will  be  a  snare  to  thee  «[  38 


V.    LAWS    OF   VEEACITY. 


1-9.  This  group  Of  precepts  relates  chiefly  to  sincerity  in  speech  and  integrity  in 
judgment.  By  a  natural  expansion,  however,  it  includes  two  precepts  which  refer  to 
honesty  and  kindliness  of  purpose,  and  are  therefore  quite  in  harmony  with  truthful^ 
ness  of  language. 

1.  The  first  precept  refers  to  witness-bearing,  with  an  intent  either  to  deceive  or  to 
wrong.  To  hear  a  false  report  is  either  to  raise  or  to  carry  it,  but  especially  the  latter 
A  wrongful  witness  is  one  who  testifies  falsely  so  as  tq  inflict  a  wrong  upon  another. 

2.  This  verse  contains  two  precepts,  which  are  connected  by  the  common  reference 
to  a  multitude.     The  former  is  general,   prohibiting  the  following  of  a  multitude  in 


166  THE    CIVIL    LAW. 

anything  that  is  evil.     The  latter  is  special,  prohibiting  a  similar  compliance  in  bear- 
ing witness  so  as  to  wrong  the  righteous  in  his  cause. 

3.  To  countenance  or  honor  the  poor  man  in  his  cause  is  to  connive  at  his  crim- 
inality from  a  mistaken  compassion  for  his  poverty.  This  rule  is  extended  to  the  rich 
as  well  as  the  poor  in  Lev.  19  :  15. 

4.  The  fifth  injunction  transcends  the  obligation  to  speak  the  truth.  He  that 
meets  his  enemy's  beast  going  astray  is  not  only  not  to  be  silent  on  the  subject,  but 
not  to  refrain  from  interfering.  He  is  to  beat  down  the  exasperated  feeling  of  his 
heart,  and  bring  back  the  straying  auimal  to  his  enemy,  as  if  he  were  a  friendly 
brother.     This  would  be  a  happy  means  of  softening  many  asperities. 

5.  The  sixth  precept  comes  in  here  on  the  principle  of  association.  Then  thou  shall 
forbear  to  leave  him.  This  seems  to  be  the  simplest  mode  of  rendering  this  somewhat 
obscure  phrase.  It  enables  us  to  give  the  usual  meaning  of  -i]y  {leave)  consistently 
throughout.  Thou  shall  surely  leave  with  him.  Leave  the  place  with  the  owner  and  his 
ass  relieved.  These  two  precepts  breathe  the  spirit  of  forgiveness  and  brotherly 
kindness.  In  this,  as  in  every  other  respect,  the  Old  Testament  is  in  harmony  with 
the  New  (Matt.  5  :  44). 

6.  In  the  seventh  precept  of  this  series  we  again  return  to  truthfulness  of  speech. 
The  needy  and  dependent  are  exposed  to  oppression  and  injustice  in  a  selfish  world. 
But  the  man  of  God  is  not  to  wrest  the  judgment  of  the  needy.  Thy  needy,  thy 
brother  who  is  needj'.     This  touches  the  feelings  of  a  common  humanity. 

7.  The  eighth  inculcates  the  avoidance  of  all  connection  with  a  false  matter,  partic- 
ularly in  lawsuits,  where  it  may  involve  the  judicial  slaying  of  the  innocent  and  the 
righteous.     I  will  not  justify,  I  will  most  assuredly  condemn,  the  wicked. 

8.  The  ninth  refers  to  bribery.  The  acceptance  of  a  gift  is  forbidden  on  the  ground 
that  it  blinds  the  eyes  and  perverts  the  tongue. 

9.  In  regard  to  judicial  truth,  the  stranger  is  entitled  to  the  same  equitable  treat- 
ment as  the  home-born.  On  this  subject  the  appeal  is  made  to  their  own  past  experi- 
ence. It  is  evident  that  this  series  of  precepts  finely  enforces  truth  of  purpose  and 
honesty  of  heart,  and  forms  a  noble  commentary  on  the  ninth  commandment. 

VI,     LAWS   EEGAKDING   SET    TIMES. 

10-19.  The  set  times  of  the  Lord  are  here  treated  in  their  bearing  on  civil  affairs. 
This  series  of  ordinances  forms  a  brief  but  comprehensive  development  of  the  com- 
mandment that  introduces  the  element  of  sacredness  into  the  disposal  of  our  time. 

10.  11.  The  first  precept  regards  the  sabbatical  year.  "  Six  years"  of  sowing  and 
reaping  are  to  be  followed  by  a  seventh  year,  in  which  men  are  to  rest  from  sowing, 
and  leave  off  gathering  in  that  which  grows  of  itself.  The  spontaneous  growth  is  to 
be  for  the  needy  and  for  the  beast  of  the  field.  The  same  rule  is  to  apply  to  the  vine- 
yard and  the  oliveyard.  This  is  one  of  the  most  distinctive  institutions  of  a  theocratic 
state.  No  merely  human  legislator  could  venture  to  enact  a  law  suspending  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  for  a  year,  because  he  has  not  the  power  to  secure  the  subject  from 
the  famine  that  might  there  by  ensue.  It  is  otherwise,  however,  with  the  Author  of  all 
things,  who  can  command  an  extraordinary  fertility  in  the  previous  year,  that  will 
sustain  his  people  for  two  years  (Lev.  25  :  20-22).  The  scriptural  use  of  the  number 
seven  in  sacred  things  is  to  be  deduced  not  from  the  division  of  the  natural  month 
into  four  periods  of  seven  days,  which  is  not  exact  in  itself,   nor  from  the  seven 


EXODUS  XXIII.  12,  13.  167 

planets,  from  wliicli  some  nations  have  derived  distinctive  names  for  the  days  of  the 
week,  but  from  the  six  days  of  creative  work  and  the  seventh  day  of  rest  with  which 
the  present  order  of  things  was  introduced.  This  historical  fact  the  Scripture  records, 
and  makes  the  base  of  a  weekly  commemoration.  The  other  fancies  of  a  later  age  it 
does  not  recognize,  and  must  not  be  forced  to  accept.  In  that  great  event  God  came 
into  immediate  and  manifest  contact  with  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  reconstituted 
the  system  of  physical  things,  clothed  the  dry  land  with  vegetation,  and  peopled  it 
with  animated  nature.  On  this  occasion,  for  the  first  time,  a  rational  inhabitant  was 
placed  upon  the  earth.  The  cycle  of  seven  days  during  which  this  creative  process 
was  completed  and  celebrated  imparted  an  association  of  sacredness  to  the  number 
seven. 

The  sabbatical  year,  which  is  here  mentioned  for  the  first  time,  is  also  called  the 
year  of  release.  In  this  year,  (1.)  the  land  was  to  be  left  uncultivated,  and  its  spon- 
taneous growth  made  common  to  the  servile,  the  poor,  the  stranger,  and  the  wild  ani- 
mals. Several  remarkable  effects  would  follow  from  the  honest  carrying  out  of  this 
arrangement.  The  spirit  of  avarice  would  be  kept  in  constant  and  effectual  check. 
The  opposite  feelings  of  compassion,  charity,  benevolence,  and  brotherly  kindness 
would  be  brought  into  play.  The  original  equality  of  all  men  in  point  of  birth  and 
right  would  rise  to  the  surface  of  human  observation.  The  habits  of  prudence  and 
economy  would  be  cherished,  as  the  produce  of  six  years  must  be  so  husbanded  as 
to  serve  for  seven  years.  A  profound  and  practical  sense  of  dependence  upon  the 
Lord  of  providence  would  be  awakened  in  the  breast  (Lev.  25  : 2-8  ;  Joseph.  Antiq. 
iii.  12,  3).  This  institution  thus  harmonizes  with  the  Sabbath  in  breaking  down  the 
narrow  selfishness  of  the  fallen  nature,  and  fostering  the  disinterested  kindliness 
that  springs  up  in  the  new  heart.  (2.)  A  debt  owed  by  a  poor  man  who  had  nothing 
to  pay  was  to  be  remitted,  or  at  all  events  not  exacted.  This  is  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  intermission  of  cultivation  during  the  seventh  year.  He  that  receives 
no  fruits  from  the  soil  is  not  in  a  condition  to  pay  debt.  This  carries  the  liberality 
of  the  affluent  brother  to  its  ultimate  extent.  The  poor  man  is  not  to  be  allowed  to 
perish,  though  he  have  nothing  to  pay  (Deut.  15  : 1,  2).  (3.)  On  this  year,  during 
the  feast  of  tabernacles,  the  law  was  to  be  read  aloud  in  the  audience  of  all  the 
people.  On  this  Sabbath-year  it  was  appropriate  that  the  great  principles  of  morality 
should  be  solemnly  presented  to  the  minds  of  the  people.  The  septennial  Sabbath 
thus  bore  a  complete  analogy  to  the  hebdomadal,  which  was  to  be  celebrated  by  a 
holy  leisure  for  the  offices  of  public  worship. 

12,  13.  The  seventh-day  Sabbath  is  here  introduced  in  its  relation  to  civic  rights. 
The  cattle,  the  servile,  and  the  stranger  are  to  be  partakers  in  this  rest.  13.  And 
in  all  that  I  have  said  to  you  he  circumspect.  This  admonition  appears  to  refer  to  the  pre- 
cept concerning  the  Sabbath.  And  mention  not  the  name  of  other  gods.  The  import  of 
this  injunction  is  to  be  ascertained  from  the  nature  of  the  enactment  to  which  it 
refers.  The  fourth  commandment  belongs  to  that  table  which  contains  our  duty  to 
God.  It  prescribes,  moreover,  the  day  on  which  religious  exercises  are  to  be  statedly 
observed.  It  is  the  only  precept  in  the  Decalogue  which  involves  the  ordinances  of  a 
perpetual  worship,  and  keeps  alive  in  the  breasts  of  the  people  the  remembrance  of 
God,  of  his  will,  and  of  his  grace.  Hence  it  is  natural  that  the  people  should  be 
guarded  against  devoting  themselves  or  any  of  their  thoughts  on  this  day  to  any  false 
god.  This  is,  therefore,  not  a  separate  precept,  but  an  incidental  warning  in  regard 
to  the  special  solemnities  of  the  Sabbath. 


1G8  THE    CIVIL    LAW. 

Some  have  regarded  this  verse  as  a  concluding  formula  of  admonition,  referring  to 
the  preceding  part  of  the  chapter  and  marking  it  o£E  from  that  which  follows.  But 
it  is  remarkable  that  the  Masoretes  have  no  division  whatever  at  this  point  of  the 
text.  This  plainly  indicates  that  they  regarded  this  verse  merely  as  the  completion 
of  the  precept  concerning  the  Sabbath,  and  not  an  independent  rule  or  closing  ex- 
hortation. 

14-17.  The  next  five  precepts  refer  to  the  annual  festivals.  The  first  determines 
that  there  shall  be  three  such  festivals  in  the  year.  15.  The  second  enjoins  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread.  As  I  commanded  thee.  The  passover  or  feast  of  unleav- 
ened bread  has  been  already  instituted  (12).  And  none  shall  appear  before  me  empty. 
This  applies  to  all  the  three  festivals,  and  refers  to  the  obligation  of  all,  without 
exception,  to  provide  the  things  requisite  for  the  celebration  of  each.  Free-will 
offerings  might  be  presented  on  such  occasions  ;  but  they  are  not  implied  in  these 
words.  16.  The  third  relates  to  the  second  festival  (Lev.  23  :  15-22)  ;  Num. 
28  :  26-31  ;  Deut.  16  : 9-12.  It  was  called  the  feast  of  harvest,  because  the  grain 
harvest  was  drawing  to  a  close  at  the  time  of  its  celebration  ;  the  day  of  first  fruits,  be- 
cause then  the  two  loaves  made  of  the  new  corn  were  presented  (Num.  28  :  26)  ;  and 
the  feast  of  weeks,  or  Pentecost,  because  it  was  kept  on  the  morrow  after  the  seventh 
Sabbath  from  the  Sabbath  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  (Deut.  16  :  10).  The 
fourth  refers  to  the  third  festival  (Lev.  23  :  33-43  ;  Num.  29  :  12-39  ;  Deut. 
16  :  13-15).  This  is  called  the  feast  of  in-gathering,  because  the  fruit  harvest  was  then 
completed  and  the  whole  produce  of  the  ground  gathered  in  ;  and  the  feast  of  taber- 
nacles, because  the  tabernacling  of  the  people  in  the  wilderness  was  then  commem- 
orated. These  three  festivals  correspond  in  the  main  with  the  three  elements  of 
salvation  :  the  passover  with  the  atonement  ;  the  pentecost  with  the  new  birth  ;  and 
the  feast  of  in-gathering  with  pardon  and  its  accompanying  plenitude  of  blessings. 
The  pentecost  is  regarded  as  the  completion  of  the  passover  ;  and  so  sanctification 
invariably  accompanies  justification.  Mercy  flows  forth  in  pardon,  as  the  end  of 
which  the  atonement  and  the  new  birth  are  the  means.  So  the  feast  of  in-gathering 
in  the  beginning  of  the  ancient  year  is  mediate  by  the  feasts  of  the  passover  and  of 
weeks  in  the  beginning  of  the  new  year.  17.  The  fifth  precept  affirms  the  obligation 
of  all  males  to  appear  at  each  of  the  three  festivals. 

18.  The  two  directions  in  this  verse  are  united  into  the  eighth  regulation  by  their 
common  reference  to  the  passover.  The  blood  of  my  sacrifice,  of  the  passover  lamb, 
which  was  peculiarly  God's  sacrifice  and  pre-eminently  the  type  of  the  Messiah  (Jno. 
1  :  29).  Leavened  bread.  Leaven  is  that  which  dissolves  and  corrupts.  It  is  there- 
fore a  fit  emblem  of  sin,  which  is  to  be  excluded  from  the  service  or  the  offerings  of 
God  (12  :  10).  The  fat  of  my  feast.  The  paschal  lamb  was  to  be  wholly  consumed  in 
the  evening,  and  no  part  left  till  the  morning.  This  is  the  rule,  whether  we  under- 
stand "  the  fat  of  my  feast  "to  be  the  best  of  sacrifices,  that  is,  the  passover,  or, 
what  is  more  likely,  the  fat  of  the  paschal  lamb,  which  was  to  be  offered  to  the  Lord, 
while  the  flesh  was  eaten  by  the  worshippers. 

19.  This  verse  contains  two  regulations.  That  concerning  the  first-fruits  refers  to 
the  feast  of  weeks,  when  the  two  wave-loaves,  which  may  be  called  the  first  of  the 
first-fruits  of  the  ground,  were  offered  unto  the  Lord  (Lev.  23:17).  And  next  the 
Eastern  custom  of  occasionally  seething  in  milk  here  comes  into  view,  and  has  sur- 
vived to  this  day.  The  prohibition  to  seethe  a  kid  in  the  mother's  milk  has  reference 
to  all  the  festivals  or  set  times  of  the  Lord.     It  appears  from  the  regulations  concern- 


EXODUS  xxiii.  20,  21.  169 

ing  these  (Num.  28  :  29)  that  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  was  to  be  offered 
in  the  beginnings  of  the  months,  on  each  of  the  seven  days  of  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread,  on  the  day  of  the  first-fruits,  on  the  first  and  the  tenth  days  of  the  seventh 
month,  and  on  each  of  the  eight  days  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles.  The  flesh  of  this 
kid  was  to  be  dressed  and  eaten  by  the  priests  in  the  holy  place  (Lev.  6  :  26).  Hence 
the  general  precept  comes  in  here  that  a  kid  is  not  to  be  seethed  in  its  mother's 
milk.  The  dam  is  the  natural  mother  and  nurse  of  the  kid,  and  the  milk  is  the  nat- 
ural aliment  by  which  life  is  sustained.  To  employ  the  milk  of  the  very  dam  to  aid 
in  cooking  the  kid  for  food  is  a  rude  violation  of  the  order  of  nature,  and  to  prohibit 
such  a  custom  is  to  cultivate  those  feelings  of  consideration  and  tenderness  in  the 
daily  routine  of  our  thoughts  which  sin  tends  to  quench,  and  moral  training  is  in- 
tended.to  rekindle.  This  minute  regulation  on  behalf  of  right  feeling  involves  the 
great  principle  that  the  course  of  human  feeling  and  conduct  ought,  in  its  finest  as 
well  as  its  broadest  lines,  to  be  brought  into  harmony  with  the  law  of  universal  be- 
nevolence. 

VII.    THE    LAWS    OP    PIETY. 

20-33.  It  is  manifest  that  the  law  of  moral  thought  cannot  be  spread  out  into  the 
same  distinguishable  branches  as  that  of  external  action.  Accordingly,  this  passage, 
which  is  marked  off  in  the  Masorah,  both  at  the  beginning  and  the  end,  as  a  major 
section,  is  not  very  obviously  divisible  into  ten  rules  or  judgments.  It  bears  also  a 
temporary  aspect,  inasmuch  as  it  treats  of  matters  that  come  to  a  termination  when 
the  people  are  settled  in  the  land  of  promise.  And  it  consists  very  largely  of 
promises,  which  scarcely  enter  into  the  other  sections  of  this  code  of  civil  jurispru- 
dence. Nevertheless,  it  evidently  forms  an  integral  part  of  the  common  law  of  Israel. 
It  is  appropriate  and  essential  that  promises  should  have  a  direct  or  indirect  part  in 
"  the  book  of  the  covenant."  Accordingly,  in  this  conclusion  of  the  civil  code, 
promises  are  intermingled  with  injunctions  ;  and  though  some  of  them  are  terminable, 
yet  they  prefigure  blessings  of  a  higher  order,  and  of  perpetual  duration.  And  a 
decade  of  commands  seems  to  be  here  intermingled  with  a  decade  of  promises, 

20-23.  This  portion  contains  three  commands  and  three  promises.  20.  Behold. 
This  word  is  frequently  used  to  introduce  an  important  intimation  concerning  the 
future.  I  send  an  angel  before  thee.  The  angel  here  promised  is  very  closely  allied 
with  the  speaker  and  sender.  He  has  power  to  "  pardon  transgressions."  The 
reason  assigned  for  the  high  prerogative  is,  "for  my  name  is  in  his  inmost"  ;  my 
nature  is  in  his  essence.  This  intimates  a  substantial  identity.  We  conclude  that 
the  angel  here  is  God  manifest  in  angelic  offices  to  his  people.  They  are  to  "  beware 
of  him,  to  hear  his  voice,  and  provoke  him  not."  To  "hear  his  voice"  and  to 
"  do  all  that  I  speak"  appear  to  be  of  the  same  import.  All  these  phrases  corroborate 
the  conclusion  that  the  angel  is  God.  He  is  sent  before  the  people  for  the  important 
purposes  of  keeping  them  in  the  way,  and  bringing  them  to  the  place  prepared  for 
them.  This  is  the  great  promise  of  the  passage.  It  is  in  continuance,  and  at  the 
same  time  in  advance,  of  former  assurances  (3:8;  13  :  21,  22).  It  intimates,  at  the 
same  time,  a  certain  distance  in  point  of  moral  condition  between  God  and  his  people, 
which  is  bridged  over  by  means  of  his  angel  (Gen.  16  :  7). 

21.  This  verse  contains  three  injunctions  regarding  this  angel.  Beware  of  him.  Give 
reverent  heed  to  him,  as  the  Supreme  God  is  in  him.  Hear  his  voice.  Understand 
and  obey  him,  as  the  Lord  revealing  himself  by  his  word.     Provoke  him  not     Let  not 


170  THE    CIVIL    LAAV. 

your  will  come  into  conflict  with  his  will,  as  he  is  the  Great  Spirit,  who  is  to  be 
worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

22.  The  central  command  is  recapitulated  and  elucidated  in  the  condition,  "  If 
thou  indeed  hear  his  voice,  and  do  all  that  I  speak."  This  verse  presents  a  second 
promise,  consequent  upon  the  former.  Then  will  1  he  an  enemy  vnto  thine  enemies.  This 
phrase  refers  to  the  inward  feeling,  as  the  following  one  does  to  the  outward  display 
of  hostility.  It  is  here  intimated,  in  general  terms,  that  the  Lord  and  his  j)eople, 
while  they  were  one  in  feeling  and  interest,  have  common  enemies  in  this  world. 

23.  A  fuller  specification  of  the  end  of  their  jotirney  is  here  followed  by  a  third 
promise.  The  Amorite,  and  the  Hittiie,  and  the  Kenaanite,  the  Tlivite  and  the  Jebusite,  are 
among  the  twelve  tribes  to  which  Kenaan  gave  rise,  eleven  being  named  after  his  de- 
scendants and  one  after  himself  (see  Gen.  15  :  19).  The  Perizzite  makes  his  appear- 
ance along  with  the  Kenaanite  in  the  history  of  Abraham  (Gen.  13  : 7).  These  six 
tribes  were  the  prominent  inhabitants  of  Kenaan  in  the  time  of  Moses  (3  : 8).  The 
Amorite  is  now  placed  first,  as  the  most  prominent  in  transgression,  and  the  first  with 
whom  the  Israelites  are  to  come  into  contact.  And  I  will  cid  them  off.  This  promise 
is  in  accordance  with  a  purpose  long  since  announced.  Four  hundred  years  before, 
the  Lord  had  informed  Abraham  that  "  the  iniquity  of  the  Amorites  was  not  yet  full" 
(Gen.  15  :  16).  This  is  no  arbitrary  procedure  on  the  part  of  the  Most  High  Possessor 
of  heaven  and  earth.  It  is  an  act  of  retributive  justice.  What  was  the  original  offence 
of  the  Kenaanite,  whether  it  was  an  early  apostasy  from  the  living  God,  the  ruthless 
invasion  of  a  preoccupied  country,  and  the  barbarous  oppression  of  the  Shemite  in- 
habitants, among  whom  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  still  lingered,  we  are  not  in- 
formed. But  we  perceive  that  the  original  crime  had  been  aggravated  by  a  course  of 
transgression  which  made  the  nation  ripe  for  a  penal  extirpation. 

24-26.  These  three  verses  contain  four  injunctions  and  four  promises.  24.  TJiou 
shall  not  how  down  to  their  gods  nor  serve  them.  These  nations  are  manifestly  idolaters, 
apostates  from  the  living  and  true  God,  and  therefore  ranking  among  those  that  hate 
him  (20  : 5).  Their  idols  will  come  under  the  notice  of  Israel  when  they  enter  the 
land.  The  idea  of  local  or  national  gods  had  become  familiar  to  them  in  Egypt.  And 
a  superstitious  dread  of  entering  into  possession  without  propitiating  the  supposed 
gods  of  the  land  might  still  lurk  in  their  breasts.  Hence  the  reasonableness  of  this 
precept,  reiterating  the  prohibition  of  the  second  commandment.  Nor  do  after  their 
works.  These  are  the  works  of  the  people  of  the  land  ;  and  chief  among  these,  the 
making  and  worshipping  of  idols,  and  the  licentious  vices  which  accompany  the  ser- 
vice of  their  national  deities.  It  is  only  necessary  to  reflect,  that  the  principal  ob- 
jects of  their  worship  were  a  male  deity,  Baal,  the  sun-god,  coinciding  in  attributes 
with  the  Apollo  and  Jupiter  of  the  Greeks  and  Komans  ;  and  a  female,  Beltis,  Ashto- 
reth,  the  moon-goddess,  resembling  in  her  character  and  worship  the  Aphrodite  or 
Venus  of  these  nations,  in  order  to  understand  the  revolting  nature  of  the  bloody  and 
lascivious  rites  and  customs  by  which  the  very  name  of  religion  was  profaned.  Human 
sacrifice  and  prostitution  in  the  national  worship  were  sufficient  to  bury  all  moral 
feeling  in  the  grave  of  carnality.  Thou  shall  utterly  overthrow  them.  The  people  and 
their  gods  seem  to  be  here  associated  as  one  great  system  of  evil,  to  be  overwhelmed 
with  destruction.  "  Their  pillars"  are  the  monumental  stones,  connected  in  a  rude, 
uncivilized  age  with  the  worship  of  these  fallen  gods. 

25.  And  ye  shall  serve  the  Lord  your  God.  This  is  the  fourth  of  this  group  of  injunc- 
tions, forming  the  counterpart  of  the  three  that  went  before.     It  is  followed  by  the 


EXODUS  XXIII.  25-33.  171 

four  promises  of  tliis  passage.  He  shall  bless  thy  bread  and  thy  water.  Bread  and  water, 
the  main  elements  of  subsistence,  stand  for  all  the  rest.  The  divine  blessing  gives 
these  all  their  value  to  a  rational  creature.  And  take  aicay  sickness  from  ike  midst  of 
thee.  Next  to  the  means  of  life,  is  health  to  enjoy  them.  Without  the  latter  the 
former  are  of  no  avail.  26.  Xone  shall  miscarry  or  be  barren  in  thy  land.  This  secures 
the  perpetuation  of  the  race.  The  number  of  thy  days  will  I  fulfil.  Length  of  life  in 
peace  and  prosperity  is  here  insured  to  the  faithful  nation.  The  sum  of  all  earthly 
prosperity  here  described,  is  at  the  same  time  an  earnest  and  type  of  still  greater 
blessings  in  an  advanced  stage  of  existence.  God  begins  with  the  present,  and  will 
never  fail  his  confiding  people  through  an  endless  future. 

27-33.  This  passage  adds  the  remaining  triad  of  promises  and  commands.  I  ivill 
send  my  fear  before  thee.  The  fame  of  the  mighty  deeds  by  which  Egypt  was  humbled 
in  the  dust,  and  Israel  delivered  and  kept  in  safety  through  the  wilderness,  would 
awaken  a  sense  of  alarm  in  the  nations  who  were  living  in  rebellion  against  the  living 
God.  Discouraged  and  troubled  in  mind,  they  would  make  only  a  feeble  effort  at 
resistance,  and  ultimately  turn  their  backs  to  the  victorious  invader. 

28-30.  And  Iioill  send  the  hornet  before  thee.  The  hornet  is  here  used  collectively  for 
a  plague  of  hornets  infesting  the  land.  This  plague  is  again  mentioned  (Deut.  7  :  20), 
and  a  passing  allusion  made  to  its  fulfilment  (Josh.  24  :  12).  Some  suppose  this  to  be 
a  figurative  description  of  certain  otherwise  unknown  calamities  that  befell  these 
nations  in  the  w^ar  of  extermination.  But  Bochart  (Hieroz.  iii.  p.  409)  has  shown  that 
frogs,  mice,  and  other  small  animals  have  been  the  means  of  annoying  and  banishing 
whole  tribes  from  their  settlements.  And  the  rapid  conquest  of  tw^o  such  powerful 
kingdoms  as  those  of  Sihon  and  Og,  and  the  immediate  occupation  of  their  cities 
(Num.  21  :  21-35)  by  the  invaders,  are  explained  by  the  fact  that  the}''  had  been  en- 
feebled and  diminished  by  a  plague  such  as  that  here  described.  There  is  no  reason 
whatever,  therefore,  to  retire  from  the  ground  of  plain  matter  of  fact,  historically  re- 
corded, into  the  region  of  a  dark,  figurative  unknown,  which  cannot  be  filled  up  even 
by  the  imagination.  The  Hivite,  the  Kenaanite,  and  the  Hittite  are  to  be  the  chief 
sufferers  from  the  plague  of  hornets.  But  the  Amorites  also  were  exhausted  by  their 
inroads  (Josh.  24  :  12).  29,  30.  A  gradual  removal  of  the  former  inhabitants  is  here 
intimated,  on  the  ground  that  the  land  without  occupants  would  be  infested  by  wild 
beasts,  as  was  the  case  at  the  time  of  the  exile  of  the  ten  tribes  (2  Kings  17  :  25).  If 
the  former  nations  had  been  instantly  exterminated,  a  people  consisting  of  one  million 
six  hundred  thousand  could  not  have  at  once  occupied  the  whole  land.  Besides,  the 
territory  here  promised  was  much  more  extensive  than  the  land  of  Kenaan. 

31.  The  boundaries  of  the  promised  land  are  here  indicated.  The  "  wilderness"  is 
that  of  Etham  and  Shur.  The  "  river"  is  the  Phrat.  The  extent  of  territory  within 
these  bounds  cannot  be  less  than  four  hundred  and  ninety  miles  by  one  hundred,  and 
therefore  four  or  five  times  the  area  of  Palestine  proper.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
these  promises  are  here  made  conditional  on  obedience  ;  and  therefore  their  fulfilment 
was  in  some  degree  modified  by  the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  people.  And  thou  shall 
'Irive  them  out  before  thee.  This  is  the  injunction  laid  on  Israel  as  the  executioner  of  the 
udgment  of  God. 

32.  The  second  injunction  is  to  make  no  covenant  with  the  people  or  their  idols. 

33.  The  idolatrous  people  are  to  be  banished  from  the  land,  that  they  may  not  be  a 
temptation  to  the  children  of  Israel,     The  order  of  thought  is,  their  dwelling  in  the 


172  THE    CLOSING    OF   THE    COVENAi^T. 

land  will  be  a  snare  to  thee,  and  tliou  wilt  serve  their  gods,  when  thou  hast  tolerated 
themselves  and  their  idolatrous  ways. 

This  completes  the  book  of  the  covenant,  in  four  chapters,  containing  the  ten  com- 
mandments for  the  moral  government  of  man,  and  seventy  judgments  for  the  regula- 
tion of  civil  life. 

CHAP.  XXIV. — THE   LAW    ACCEPTED. 

XXIV.  1.  And  to  Moses  he  said,  Come  up  unto  the  Loed,  thou  and  Aaron,  Nadab 
and  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel  ;  and  worship  ye  afar  off.  2.  And 
Moses  alone  shall  come  near  the  Lord,  but  they  shall  not  come  near  ;  and  the  people 
shall  not  come  up  with  him.  3.  And  Moses  went  and  told  the  people  all  the  words  of 
the  Lord  -and  all  the  judgments  :  and  all  the  people  answered  with  one  voice,  and 
said.  All  the  words  which  the  Lord  hath  spoken  will  we  do.  4.  And  Moses  wrote  all 
the  words  of  the  Lord,  and  rose  up  earl}^  in  the  morning,  and  built  an  altar  under 
the  mount,  and  twelve  pillars  for  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  5.  And  he  sent  young 
men  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  they  offered  burnt-offerings,  and  sacrificed  peace-offer- 
ings of  oxen  to  the  Lord.  6.  And  Moses  took  half  of  the  blood  and  put  in  basins  ; 
and  half  of  the  blood  he  sprinkled  on  the  altar.  7.  And  he  took  the  book  of  the 
covenant,  and  read  in  the  ears  of  the  people  ;  and  they  said.  All  that  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  will  we  do  and  obey.  8.  And  Moses  took  the  blood  and  sprinkled  on  all 
the  people  ;  and  said.  Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  the  Lord  hath  made 
with  you  according  to  all  these  words. 

9.  Then  went  up  Moses  and  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of 
Israel.  10.  And  they  saw  the  God  of  Israel  :  and  under  his  feet  as  a  paved  work  of 
sapphire  and  as  the  substance  of  heaven  for  purity.  11.  And  upon  the  nobles  of  the 
sons  of  Israel  he  laid  not  his  hand  :  and  they  beheld  God,  and  ate  and  drank.       §  58. 

12.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Come  up  to  me  into  the  mount,  and  be  there  : 
and  I  will  give  thee  tables  of  stone  and  the  law  and  the  commandment  which  I  have 
written  to  teach  them.  13.  And  Moses  rose  up  and  Joshua  his  minister  ;  and  Moses 
went  up  to  the  mount  of  God.  14.  And  to  the  elders  he  said,  Sit  ye  here  for  us,  until 
we  come  back  unto  you  :  and  behold  Aaron  and  Hur  are  with  you  ;  whosoever  hath 
any  matter,  let  him  draw  near  unto  them.  15.  And  Moses  went  up  into  the  mount, 
and  the  cloud  covered  the  mount.  16.  And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  abode  upon  Mount 
Sinai,  and  the  cloud  covered  it  six  days  ;  and  he  called  unto  Moses  the  seventh  day 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  cloud.  17.  And  the  sight  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  like 
devouring  fire  on  the  top  of  the  mount  in  the  eyes  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  18.  And 
Moses  went  into  the  midst  of  the  cloud,  and  went  up  into  the  mount  ;  and  Moses  was 
in  the  mount  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  19.  IT  H  H  39. 

The  formal  ratification  of  the  covenant  between  God  and  his  people  is  the  ajjpro- 
priate  close  of  the  legislative  section  which  forms  the  kernel  of  the  Book  of  Exodus. 
The  admission  of  Moses  and  the  other  representatives  of  the  people  into  the  presence 
of  God  is  the  natural  result  of  the  sealing  of  the  covenant.  These  are,  accordingly, 
the  two  to^Dics  of  this  concluding  chapter. 

1-8.  The  closing  of  the  covenant.  And  to  Moses  he  said.  The  words  "  and  to 
Moses,"  being  placed  first  in  the  original,  are  emphatic.  This  places  the  following 
words  addressed  to  Moses  in  contrast  with  the  communication  begun  in  20  :  22,  and 
addressed  to  the  people.  Come  up.  This  indicates  an  approach  to  the  mountain  in 
general.  In  the  present  case  it  includes  an  ascent  of  some  part  of  the  mountain  side. 
Moses  and  Aaron  ascend  as  the  prophet  and  priest  of  God  ;  Nadab  and  Abihu,  as  the 
elder  sons  of  Aaron,  henceforth  to  be  associated  with  him  in  the  priesthood  ;  the 
seventy  elders  as  the  representative  heads  of  the  people.  The  number  seventy,  which 
we  might  expect  to  be  a  round  number  for  seventy-two,  or  six  out  of  every  tribe,  has 
most  probably  a  historical  reference  to  the  number  of  souls  that  constituted  the  whole 
family  of  Jacob  when  he  came  down  into  Egypt  (see  on  Gen.  46  :  27).     And  loorship  ye 


EXODUS  XXIV.    3-11.  173 

afar  off.  This  shows  that  they  were  not  to  ascend  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
Moses  shall  come  near  ;  and  only  the  representatives  prescribed  shall  come  at  all. 

3.  And  Moses  went.  The  call  to  come  up  to  the  mount  is  subsequent  both  in  its 
utterance  and  in  the  time  of  its  execution  to  the  directions  given  in  20  :  22,  26,  which 
imply  all  that  Moses  now  proceeds  to  do.  And  told  the  people.  The  acceptance  of  the' 
covenant  is  to  be  an  intelligent  service.  All  the  words  of  the  Lord.  This  may  refer  to 
all  the  words  contained  in  the  preceding  four  chapters,  or  in  the  twentieth  chapter 
only.  The  ten  ''  words"  pre-eminently  so  called,  Moses  may  have  now  rehearsed  to 
the  people.  And  all  the  judgments,  the  seven  decades  of  regulations  contained  in  the 
previous  three  chapters.  Will  we  do.  The  unanimous  assent  of  the  people  is  the  vir- 
tual acceptance  of  the  covenant. 

4-8.  This  passage  contains  the  solemn  ratification  of  the  covenant.  Ayid  Moses 
icrote.  All  the  words  of  the  Lord  now  written  constitute  the  Book  of  the  Covenant 
afterward  mentioned.  Built  an  altar.  This  is  the  first  altar  erected  in  compliance 
with  the  precept  in  20  :  24.  The  altar  indicates  the  presence  of  God  in  covenant  with 
his  people.  The  twelve  pillars,  placed  probably  in  a  circle  round  the  altar,  indicate 
the  presence  of  the  twelve  tribes  in  this  great  solemnization  of  the  covenant.  They  do 
not  seem  to  have  had  a  monumental  character,  as  we  hear  no  more  of  them. 

5.  And  he  sent  young  men  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  These  youths  are  not  to  be  further 
defined  as  first-born  or  Levites,  but  as  fit  persons  selected  by  Moses  himself,  who  is 
the  principal  agent  in  mediating  the  covenant  out  of  a  people  who  are  all  a  "  king- 
dom of  priests  and  a  holy  nation"  (19  :  6).  They  are  merely  the  ministers  of  Moses, 
and  not  the  representatives  of  the  people,  who  are  the  seventy  elders,  and  occupy  a 
different  position  in  this  great  transaction.  Burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings,  types 
of  atonement  and  thanksgiving  (20  :  24). 

6.  And  Moses  took  half  of  the  blood.  The  blood  is  that  which  makes  atonement,  and 
thereby  lays  the  foundation  for  a  covenant  of  peace.  Hence  it  ratifies  the  covenant. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  divided  into  two  equal  parts.  The  one  is  reserved  in  basins  ; 
the  other  is  sprinkled  on  the  altar.  There  it  makes  a  propitiation,  and  in  the  present 
instance  signifies  concurrence  in  the  covenant. 

7.  The  hook  of  the  covenant,  which  he  had  just  written,  contains  the  "  words"  and 
"  judgments"  of  the  previous  four  chapters.  Ayid  read.  Before,  he  told  or  reported  ; 
now,  he  solemnly  recites.  The  former  assent  of  the  people  authorized  the  step  of 
solemnizing  the  covenant.  This  unanimous  consent,  after  a  second  deliberate  hear- 
ing, is  the  formal  acceptance  of  the  covenant. 

8.  The  hlood.  This  is  the  part  reserved  in  basins.  The  blood  has  here  two  func- 
tions to  fulfil  —first  to  make  reconciliation,  and  then  by  its  application  to  determine 
the  parties  reconciled.  Its  offering  on  the  altar  conditionates  the  covenant  ;  its  ap- 
plication to  the  people  makes  them  parties  to  the  covenant.  It  is  the  one  blood  that 
§,ccomplishes  the  pacification.  Hence  Moses  sprinkles  the  reserved  portion  of  the 
atoning  blood  on  the  people,  saying,  "  Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  the 
Lord  hath  made."  According  to  all  these  words.  The  book  of  the  covenant  which 
Moses  had  read  contained  the  terms  of  the  covenant  to  which  they  had  now  consented. 

9-11.  The  ascent  to  a  certain  point  in  the  mountain  side,  to  which  reference  was 
made  in  the  first  verse,  is  now  accomplished.  To  what  point  they  ascended  would 
be  a  very  unprofitable  inquiry.  It  is  incomparably  more  imj^ortant  to  mark  the  fact 
that  now,  when  the  covenant  has  received  its  solemn  and  final  sanction,  the  people 
have  access  to  Ood.     Hence  by  their  representatives  they  enter  into  the  presence  of 


174  THE   CLOSING    OF   THE   COVENANT. 

God.  10.  And  they  saw  the  God  of  Israel.  We  take  these  words  in  their  simple  sense. 
Whatever  were  the  sensible  circumstances  of  the  divine  presence,  they  were  permitted 
to  see  with  the  eye  of  sense.  Whatever  aspect  of  God  himself  with  face  averted  from 
them  was  presented  to  them,  they  discerned,  we  may  venture  to  presume,  with  the 
eye  of  the  spirit.  Hence  they  do  not  say  a  word  of  the  **  similitude  of  any  figure"  of 
the  Divine  Being,  because  they  had  not  seen  any  such  (33  :  20-23  ;  Deut.  4  :  15-19). 
The  God  of  Israel.  As  he  was  the  God  of  Abraham  when  alone,  the  God  of  Jacob 
when  the  head  of  a  family,  so  now  he  is  the  God  of  Israel  as  a  people  in  covenant 
with  him.  A  paved  work  of  sapphire.  But  the  spectators  of  that  heavenly  vision  can 
only  describe  the  outwardly  visible  glory  that  came  before  them.  This  phrase  is 
otherwise  rendered  "  a  work  of  the  whiteness  or  transparency  of  sapphire."  It  is  not 
of  great  importance  which  rendering  is  adopted,  as  what  they  saw  is  only  compared 
with  this,  and  therefore  only  distantly  illustrated  by  it.  But  we  prefer  the  former 
rendering,  with  Aben  Ezra,  because  the  sapphire  is  of  various  colors,  blue,  red,  yel- 
low, and  white,  and  the  word  "  work"  (niZ/U/O)  ^^  generally  connected,  not  with  color, 
but  with  the  material,  the  art,  or  the  artificer.  A  paved  work  of  sapphire  is  descrip- 
tive of  a  scene  of  matchless  splendor,  having  the  qualities  of  adamantine  solidity, 
transparence,  and  brilliancy.  The  suhstance  of  heaven  for  purity.  The  substance  of  heaven 
is  a  phrase  for  the  very  heaven  itself.  Nothing  less  than  the  spotless  purity  and  lustre 
of  the  skies  above  is  fit  to  be  compared  with  the  inexpressible  beauty  and  grandeur  of 
that  which  was  beneath  the  feet  of  the  God  of  Israel.  With  this  short  sentence  ends 
the  description.  A  fancy  sketch  would  have  been  more  copious.  11.  Upon  the  nobles  of 
the  sons  of  Israel  he  laid  not  his  hand.  He  did  not  consume  them  with  the  fire  of  his 
holiness,  because  they  had  now  with  the  whole  consent  of  their  minds  entered  into  a 
covenant  of  peace  with  him  through  the  blood  of  atonement.  They  were  therefore 
favored  with  the  vision  of  the  Almighty.  They  beheld  God.  This  is  the  verb  generally 
emploj'^ed  to  denote  the  vision  of  the  prophet.  It  denotes  attentive  and  absorbed 
contemplation.  And  ate  and  drank.  Notwithstanding  the  contemplation  of  the  in- 
finitely holy  One,  they  continued  to  discharge  the  functions  of  an  earthly  life.  This 
is  supposed  to  refer  to  their  partaking  of  their  peace-ofiferings  on  their  descent  ;  but 
it  seems  to  be  merely  a  proverbial  phrase  to  denote  the  continuance  of  life. 

12-18.  This  passage  describes  the  ascent  of  Moses  to  the  actual  summit  of  the 
mount.  Come  up.  This  may  be  understood  to  imply  that  Moses  and  the  others  had 
descended  to  partake  of  the  sacrificial  feast.  At  all  events,  they  were  still  within 
reach  of  any  of  the  people  who  might  have  business  with  them.  But  Moses  was  now 
to  ascend  farther.  And  be  there.  Abide  there  for  a  considerable  time.  Tables  of 
stone,  slabs  or  tablets  on  which  the  law  was  written.  The  law,  or  doctrine  concerning 
God  and  his  rights.  The  commandment,  the  authoritative  rule  for  the  conduct  of  man. 
The  reasonable  nature  of  the  ten  words  inscribed  on  the  tables  of  stone  appears  from 
the  fact  that  they  first  reveal  a  doctrine,  and  then  impose  an  obligation  founded  on 
that  doctrine.  Which  I  have  written.  These  words  were  not  only  spoken  by  the  voice, 
but  written  by  the  finger,  of  God,  who  herein  displays  a  wondrous  care  of  his  chosen 
people.  To  teach  them.  In  the  original  we  have  here  the  same  root  that  is  contained 
in  the  word  rendered  '*  law."     God's  law  is  a  doctrine,  a  philosophy,  a  theology. 

13.  And  Moses  rose  up,  from  a  state  of  rest  and  contemplation.  And  Joshua  his 
minister.  Joshua  has  already  come  before  us  as  captain  of  the  host  against  Amalek 
(17  :  9).  He  is  described  here  as  the  minister,  attendant,  or  adjutant  of  Moses.  His 
presence  has  not  been  noticed  among^  those  who  went  up  to  the  mountain.     He  must 


EXODUS  XXIV.  13-18.  175 

have  been  in  attendance  upon  Moses.  Some  suppose  he  was  one  of  the  seventy 
elders,  but  his  youth  militates  against  this  view.  14.  Before  leaving  them  Moses 
commanded  the  elders  to  await  his  return  where  they  were,  and  pointed  out  Aaron 
and  Hur  as  his  representatives  to  the  people.  15.  He  now  at  length  ascends  into  the 
mount,  accompanied  by  Joshua  alone  to  the  very  verge  of  the  cloud  which  covered 
the  mount.  16.  Six  days  he  waits  in  the  precincts  of  the  cloud,  and  on  the  seventh 
day  he  is  summoned  into  the  presence  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  If  the  giving  of  the 
law  fell  on  the  sixth  of  the  third  month,  and  a  day  be  allowed  for  the  ratification  of 
the  covenant,  the  seventh  day  after,  on  which  Moses  at  length  ascends  into  the 
mount,  will  be  the  fourteenth  of  the  third  month.  17.  The  sons  of  Israel  contem- 
plated with  solemn  awe  the  glory  of  the  Lord  displayed  on  Mount  Sinai,  which  ap- 
peared to  them  as  a  vast  flame  of  devouring  fire.  18.  Into  this  flaming  mount  Moses, 
at  the  call  of  God,  ascended,  and  abode  in  that  wondrous  scene  forty  days  and  forty 
nights.  The  stately  march  of  the  narrative  throughout  this  passage  corresponds  with 
the  unparalleled  grandeur  of  the  occasion. 


SECTION   Y.— THE  TABERNACLE. 

XIII.     PLAN   OF   THE   TABERNACLE.— Ex.  25-31. 

CHAP.  XXV. — THE  AKK,  TABLE,  AND  CANDLESTICK. 

2.  n?Ol"in  g^^^?  o.'^^PXV,  that  which  is  lifted  up  or  heaved,  and  hence  denoting 
specially  the  heave-offering,  which  got  its  name  from  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  heaved  up  when  presented. 

4.  n/Dn  '^""^'-^^oS,  violet  or  Mue,  a  dark  blue  obtained  from  the  murex,  a  shell- 
fish of  the  coasts  of  Phoenicia,  Laconia,  and  North  Africa.  The  dye  is  originally 
white,  then  green,  and  lastly  a  blue  purple. 

110!inJ^  '^op'P'f^P"',  red,  purple,  obtained  from  the  purpura,  a  fish  of  Syrian  and 
Peloponnesian  shores. 

ny^n  '^^^■^'^-  ''j]V  crimson,  from  a  root  signifying  to  sMne.  The  two  words 
denote  the  Kermes  worm  or  the  dye  obtained  from  it.  This  worm  or  insect  is 
found  on  the  ilex  or  holm  oak  in  Palestine  and  the  south  of  Europe. 

^^  ;3i>crao5,  Jlax,  the  shenti  of  old  Egyptian,  which  was  fine  flax,  not  cotton. 

5.  ti^nn  i^  variously  conjectured  to  be  the  badger,  the  seal,  the  dolpin,  and  the 
tacasse,  a  species  of  antelope  found  in  Africa  ;  r.  rWH  ^^  silent.,  it  is  said  from 
its  hibernation. 

^'  D1V2  ^^'  QWI^  sweet  smell,  spice.  Cti^S  the  'balsam,  by  the  insertion  of  I  in  the 
Arabic  form  of  the  word.  This  plant  is  common  in  Palestine.  C'']2D  ^P'^c^^,  P^'>'- 
fumes,  from  the  sweet  smell. 

16.  ninj;  testimony.  -j:iy  to  de  fast,  firm,  sure,  "liyn  assure,  attest,  -^y  witness. 
^V'^fix,  appoint,     j-jiy  appointed  meeting,  regularly  constituted  assembly. 

17.  p|"l93  lAafyTT^fHov,  kniBefia,  propitiatorium,  mercy-seat  ;  r.  in  Kal,  lay  on 
(pitch)  ;  in  Piel,  expiate. 

29.  n"iyp  TpvfS/.iov,  a  large  dish  or  plate  for  bread.  Those  presented  by  the 
princes  of  Israel  weighed  each  one  hundred  and  thirty  shekels,  or  about  five 
pounds  troy  w^eight  (Num.  7  :  13). 

rj3  palm,  sole.  In  pi.  QvlaKat,  howls  or  smaller  plates  for  holding  frankincense, 
which  were  placed  upon  the  bread.  Each  of  those  presented  by  the  princes 
weighed  ten  shekels,  or  about  four  and  a  half  ounces. 

nilii^p  (77rov(5eZa,  bowls  or  flagons  holding  wine  for  libations. 

n^"^"jJD  'f^'^^oi,  cups  used  in  drink-offerings. 

XXV.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying  :  2.  Speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel, 
that  they  take  for  me  an  offering  :  of  every  man  whose  heart  is  willing  ye  shall  take 
my  offering.  3.  And  this  is  the  offering  which  ye  shall  take  of  them  ;  gold  and  silver 
and  brass.     4.  And  blue  and  purple  and  crimson  ;  and  fine  linen  and  goats'  hair  ;  5. 


EXODUS  XXV.  177 

And  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  badgers'  skins  ;  and  shittah  wood  ;  6.  Oil  for  the 
light  ;  spices  for  the  anointing  oil  and  for  the  incense  of  perfumes  ;  7.  Onyx  stones, 
and  stones  for  the  ephod  and  for  the  breastplate.  8.  And  they  shall  make  me  a  sanc- 
tuary, that  I  may  dwell  among  them.  9.  According  to  all  that  I  show  thee,  after  the 
pattern  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  pattern  of  all  its  instruments,  even  so  shall  ye 
make  it.  §  59. 

10.  And  they  shall  make  an  ark  of  shittah  wood  :  two  cubits  and  a  half  shall  be  its 
length,  a  cubit  and  a  half  its  breadth,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  its  height.  11,  And 
thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold,  within  and  without  shalt  thou  overlay  it  :  and 
thou  shalt  make  upon  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about.  12.  And  thou  shalt  cast  for 
it  four  rings  of  gold,  and  put  them  on  its  four  feet  :  and  two  rings  shall  be  on  the  one 
side  of  it,  and  two  rings  on  the  other  side  of  it.  13.  And  thou  shalt  make  staves  of 
shittah  wood,  and  overlaj^  them  with  gold.  14.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  staves  in  the 
rings  on  the  sides  of  the  ark,  to  bear  the  ark  with  them.  15.  The  staves  shall  be  in 
the  rings  of  the  ark  ;  they  shall  not  depart  from  it.  16.  And  thou  shalt  put  into  the 
ark  the  testimony  which  I  shall  give  thee. 

17.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  mercj^-seat  of  pure  gold  :  two  cubits  and  a  half  shall  be  its 
length,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  its  breadth.  18.  And  thou  shalt  make  two  cherubim  of 
gold  ;  of  beaten  work  shalt  thou  make  them,  on  the  two  ends  of  the  mercj^-seat.  19. 
And  make  one  cherub  on  the  one  end  and  the  other  cherub  on  the  other  end  ;  out  of 
the  mercy-seat  shall  ye  make  the  cherubim  on  its  two  ends.  20.  And  the  cherubim  shall 
spread  out  two  wings  above,  covering  the  mercy-seat  with  their  wings,  and  their  faces 
each  to  the  other  ;  toward  the  mercy-seat  shall  the  faces  of  the  cheiubim  be.  21. 
And  thou  shalt  put  the  mercy-seat  on  the  ark  from  above  :  and  in  the  ark  shalt  thou 
put  the  testimony  that  I  shall  give  thee.  22.  And  I  will  meet  with  thee  there,  and 
speak  with  thee  from  above  the  mercy-seat,  from  between  the  two  cherubim  which 
are  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  of  all  that  I  command  thee  concerning  the  sons  of 
Israel.  TI  40. 

23.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  table  of  shittah  wood  :  two  cubits  shall  be. its  length,  and 
a  cubit  its  breadth,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  its  height.  24.  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it 
wdth  pure  gold,  and  make  for  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about.  25.  And  thou  shalt 
make  for  it  a  border  of  a  handbreadth  round  about,  and  make  a  crown  of  gold  for  the 
border  thereof  round  about.  26.  And  thou  shalt  make  for  it  four  rings  of  gold  ;  and 
put  the  rings  on  the  four  corners  of  its  four  feet.  27.  Over  against  the  border  shall  be 
the  rings  for  places  for  the  staves  to  bear  the  table.  28.  And  thou  shalt  make  the 
staves  of  shittah  wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold  ;  and  the  table  shall  be  boine  witk 
them.  29.  And  thou  shalt  make  its  dishes,  and  its  bowls,  and  its  flagons,  and  its 
cups,  to  pour  out  withal :  of  pure  gold  shalt  thou  make  them.  30.  And  thou  shalt  set 
on  the  table  shew-bread  before  me  alway.  "TI  41. 

31.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  candlestick  of  pure  gold  :  of  beaten  work  shall  the 
candlestick  be  made  ;  its  block  and  its  shaft,  its  cups,  its  knops,  and  its  flowers, 
shall  be  of  the  same.  32.  And  six  branches  shall  come  out  of  the  sides  of  it  ; ; 
three  branches  of  the  candlestick  out  of  the  one  side,  and  three  branches  of 
the  candlestick  out  of  the  other  side.  33.  Three  almond-shaped  cups  in  one 
branch,  a  knop  and  a  flower  ;  and  three  almond-shaped  cups  in  another  branch, 
a  knop  and  a  flower  :  so  for  the  six  branches  coming  out  of  the  candlestick.  34.  And 
in  the  candlestick  shall  be  four  almond-shaped  cups,  its  knops  and  its  flowers.  35. 
And  there  shall  be  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under  two 
branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the  same  ;  for  the  six 
branches  coming  out  of  the  candlestick.  36.  Their  knops  and  their  branches  shall  be 
of  the  same  ;  all  of  it  shall  be  one  beaten  piece  of  pure  gold.  37.  And  thou  shalt  make 
the  seven  lamps  thereof  ;  and  he  shall  set  up  the  lamps  thereof  and  give  light  over 
against  it.  38.  And  its  snuffers  and  its  snuff-dishes  shall  be  of  pure  gold.  39.  Of  a 
talent  of  pure  gold  shall  he  make  it  with  all  these  vessels.  40.  And  see  that  thou 
make  them  after  their  pattern,  which  thou  wast  shown  in  the  mount.  §  60. 

The  substance  of  the  covenant  made  in  the  previous  section  may  be  conveyed  in 
the  formula  :  "  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people,  and  I  will  be  to  you  a  God"  (6  :  7  ^ 
19  : 5,  6  ;  20  :  2).     The  natural  consequence  of  this  is  that  he  will  take  up  his  abode 


178  THE    MATERIALS    FOB,   THE   TABER]S"ACLE. 

among  them,  and  enter  into  all  the  intercourse  of  sacred  fellowship  with  them.  For 
this  purpose  an  abode  is  to  be  prepared  for  God,  and  provided  with  the  needful  fur- 
niture. But  inasmuch  as  the  people  belong  to  a  fallen  race,  upon  whom  the  curse  of 
disobedience  has  descended,  a  type  at  least  of  propitiation  and  intercession  must 
form  a  part  of  the  ceremonial  intercourse  between  God  and  his  people,  until  the  reality 
of  these  priestly  functions  has  at  length  arrived. 

The  tabernacle  is  the  home  of  God  among  his  ransomed  people.  It  is  in  general 
an  adumbration  of  the  great  primeval  dwelling-place  of  God,  where  he  holds  converse 
with  the  manifold  ranks  and  estates  of  his  rational  and  righteous  creatures.  We  are 
wont  to  imagine  this  to  be  some  central  place  whither  the  myriads  of  the  intelligent 
universe  may  convene  for  the  business  of  heaven,  and  for  the  recreations  of  hospita- 
ble and  friendly  intercourse  in  the  heaven  of  heavens.  But  we  are  not  to  bind  the  Om- 
nipresent to  this  habitual  conception  of  our  minds.  For  aught  we  can  know  there 
may  be  as  many  centres  of  home  for  the  Supreme  as  there  are  spheres  of  spiritual 
beings  susceptible  of  the  unutterable  joys  of  the  divine  home  and  presence  and  con- 
verse. Hence  there  may  be  a  broad  basis  of  truth  in  all  the  varying  interpretations 
which  the  prolific  imaginations  of  thoughtful  men  have  put  upon  this  profoundly  in- 
teresting portion  of  Scripture.  But  with  a  due  regard  to  the  occasion  on  which  the 
tabernacle  was  instituted,  the  stage  at  which  human  knowledge  had  then  arrived,  and 
the  life  and  freshness  of  the  truth  which  it  shadows  forth,  it  is  best  to  adhere  to  the 
simple  idea  of  a  home,  where  God  dwells  on  terms  of  affectionate  and  familiar  intimacy 
with  his  redeemed  and  reconciled  people.  This  is  the  generic  conception  of  the  tab- 
ernacle. Yet  we  should  come  far  short  of  a  correct  apprehension  of  its  nature,  if  we 
did  not  bring  out  into  conspicuous  prominence  its  specific  difference.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  as  a  fact  of  essential  moment  that  the  people  among  whom  God  is  here  to 
dwell  are  undergoing  a  process  of  sanctification,  which  is  begun  in  each  individual  by 
accepting  a  pardon  freely  bestowed  and  a  propitiation  typically  made  on  his  behalf. 
Hence  the  paternal  house  or  heaven,  which  the  tabernacle  represents,  is  not  merely 
the  general  home  of  the  intelligent  universe,  but  the  heaven  of  the  redeemed,  where 
the  Lamb  will  be  a  conspicuous  figure,  and  the  psalm  of  praise  will  be  the  new  song 
of  redemption,  transcending  in  its  revelation  of  the  divine  nature  the  older  song  of 
creation.  Hence  the  whole  service  of  the  sanctuary  is  typical  of  the  higher  blessings 
of  salvation,  of  the  true  High  Priest,  of  the  really  atoning  sacrifice,  of  the  heaven  of 
redemption,  and  of  that  spiritual  fellowship  which  the  saints  will  have  with  the  Lord 
in  glory.  It  is  the  flower  of  the  whole  economy  of  grace,  giving  fair  promise  of  the 
fruit  in  due  season.  Hence  we  can  understand  the  place  and  space  given  to  the  taber- 
nacle in  this  book  of  the  exodus.  The  tabernacle  expands  and  completes  what  was 
represented  in  brief  by  the  lamb  of  the  passover.  It  sets  forth  the  blessings  which 
flow  from  reconciliation.  It  is  the  glorious  end  to  which  all  the  preliminary  steps  of 
the  deliverance  and  the  covenant  lead.  It  occupies  a  proportionate  amplitude  of 
space  in  the  records  of  God's  dealings  with  his  people.  Seven  chapters  are  devoted  to 
the  specifications  of  the  tabernacle,  and  six  to  its  construction  and  erection,  between 
which  are  three  chapters  giving  an  account  of  a  lamentable  act  of  unbelief  and  apos- 
tasy on  the  part  of  the  chosen  people. 

Of  the  seven  chapters  of  specification  three  are  assigned  to  the  tabernacle  itself, 
three  to  the  priest  of  the  tabernacle,  and  one  to  the  arrangements  for  having  the  whole 
carried  into  effect  in  an  efficient  and  irreproachable  manner. 


EXODUS  XXV.    1-9.  179 

The  present  chapter  contains  directions  concerning  the  contribution  of  the  mate- 
rials, and  the  construction  of  the  ark,  the  table,  and  the  candlestick, 

1-9.  The  order  for  the  contribution  of  materials  to  construct  the  tabernacle.  An 
offering  is  here  a  gift  called  by  the  name  of  the  heave-offering  (39  :  27).  Of  every  mem 
whose  heart  is  willing.  A  forced  service  is  only  a  bodily  service.  A  free-will  offering  is 
alone  acceptable  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts.  3-7,  The  materials  of  the  offering  and  of 
the  tabernacle  are  all  definitely  prescribed.  There  are  three  metals  ;  three  colors  of 
animal  origin  ;  two  textile  fabrics,  the  one  vegetable,  the  other  animal  ;  two  sorts  of 
skins  ;  one  species  of  wood  ;  oil  from  the  olive  ;  spices  ;  onyx  stones,  and  other  pre- 
cious stones,  twelve  in  number,  for  setting.  Beckoning  spices  as  one  class,  and  pre- 
cious stones  as  another,  we  have  here  twice  seven  kinds  of  material,  of  which  four  are 
from  the  mineral  kingdom,  four  from  the  vegetable,  and  six  from  the  animal.  Blue  is 
a  purple  color  from  the  murex ;  purple  is  the  red  purj)le  obtained  from  the  purpura  ; 
and  crimson  the  red  extracted  from  the  coccus  or  kermes,  supposed  by  some  of  the 
ancients  to  be  a  berry,  but  in  reality  an  insect  adhering  to  the  holm  oak.  Fine  linen, 
a  product  for  which  Egypt  was  celebrated.  Bams'  skins  dyed  red.  This  cannot  be 
naturally  rendered  skins  of  red  rams.  Badgers'  skiyis.  The  badger  is  a  native  of 
Europe.  It  is  probable  that  the  animal  here  intended  is  different  ;  but  whether  it 
be  the  seal,  dolphin,  tacasse,  or  some  other  animal  is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  The 
familiar  word  badger  may  be  retained  with  the  understanding  that  it  is  used  for  an 
unknown  animal  easily  obtained  in  the  peninsula  of  Sinai.  Shittah  wood.  This  is  the 
Egyptian  and  Arabic  shant,  or  acacia,  which  must  have  been  large  and  abundant  in 
the  time  of  Moses.  It  is  now  employed  by  the  Arabs  for  making  charcoal,  and  is 
therefore  seldom  allowed  to  attain  to  a  great  age.  Oil  is  obtained  from  the  olive  tree, 
a  native  of  Asia,  and  abounding  in  the  south  of  Europe.  Spices.  Arabia  is  cele- 
brated for  its  spices,  which  are  here  comprehended  under  a  generic  term.  The  pre- 
cious stones  are  afterward  •  enumerated  (28 :  16),  and  the  ephod  and  breastplate  de- 
scribed (28  : 6,  15). 

8,  9.  A  sanctuary.  A  holy  place,  where  God  might  dwell  among  his  people.  Its 
chief  distinction  was  its  holiness,  as  it  was  to  be  among  the  children  of  the  fall,  who 
were  morally  impure.  According  to  all  that  I  show  thee.  I  am  about  to  show  thee  the 
pattern  of  the  tabernacle,  and  of  all  things  connected  with  it.  The  tabernacle  itself 
was  a  type  of  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Most  High  in  the  heaven  of  heavens.  But  the 
pattern  of  it  was  the  ideal  form  or  plan  according  to  which  it  was  to  be  constructed 
for  earthly  use.  The  divine  origin  of  this  plan  proves  the  profound  significance  of 
the  tabernacle  and  all  its  appurtenances. 

It  is  obvious  that  there  is  an  analogy  between  the  tabernacle  service  and  the  ritual  of 
the  Egyptians  and  other  Gentiles.  But  it  is  equally  obvious  that  the  resemblance  between 
them  is  not  the  result  of  servile  imitation  or  simple  adoption  on  the  part  of  Moses.  It 
is  founded  on  deeper  and,  more  recondite  principles.  In  the  first  place,  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  human  race  involves  a  fundamental  similitude  in  the  modes  of  human  wor- 
ship. This  race  was  in  its  head  created  after  the  image  of  God  in  reason,  will,  and 
power,  and  then  by  an  act  of  disobedience  plunged  into  the  abyss  of  guilt  and  sin. 
The  common  reason,  though  stunned  by  this  fall,  will  arrive  at  certain  common  prin- 
ciples of  religious  truth,  mingled  and  distorted,  no  doubt,  by  dark  and  fatal  miscon- 
ceptions. In  the  next  place,  tradition  has  left  indelible  traces  of  primeval  facts  and 
thoughts  upon  the  mind  of  man,  which  have  entered  into  combination  with  the  thou- 
sand strange  and  grotesque  vagaries  of  a  wanton  imagination.    And  lastly,  Moses  was, 


180  THE   MERCY-SEAT. 

in  the  providence  of  God,  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  of  that  day,  and 
equally  familiarized  with  all  the  experience  of  the  Midianites  in  the  wilds  of  Arabia. 
Through  a  mind  so  trained  for  twice  forty  years  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  convey  to 
his  people  the  written  revelation  of  his  will,  the  fundamental  principles  of  his  law, 
and  the  minute  specifications  of  his  worship.  These  facts  are  sufficient  to  account  for 
the  originality  and  independence  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  for  the  resemblances 
and  differences  which  may  be  traced  between  it  and  the  religious  institutions  of  sur- 
rounding nations.  It  is  to  be  expected,  not  that  the  early  customs  of  the  Egyptians 
and  Midianites  will  throw  much  light  on  those  of  the  Israelites,  but  rather  that  the 
latter  in  their  plainly-written  form  will  contribute  to  the  elucidation  of  the  former. 
And  accordingly  this  expectation  has  already  been  in  a  very  signal  manner  realized. 
The  antiquities  of  Eastern  nations,  from  Egypt  to  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  are  con- 
stantly receiving  illustration  from  the  Bible. 

10-16.  The  ark  of  the  testimony.  The  ark,  like  the  tabernacle  itself,  derives  its  whole 
importance  from  that  which  it  contains.  It  is  a  box  or  chest  of  shittah  wood.  The 
shant  of  Egypt  and  Arabia  grew  to  the  height  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet.  Its  wood 
was  light,  durable,  and  capable  of  taking  a  polish  and  of  resisting  damp.  The  cubit 
is  the  length  from  the  elbow  to  the  tip  of  the  middle  finger,  and  is  variously  esti- 
mated at  a  foot  and  a  half  and  upward  to  a  foot  and  three  quarters.  It  contains  two 
spans,  and  each  span  three  palms  or  handbreadths.  The  Babylonian  cubit,  which 
consisted  of  seven  palms,  seems  to  have  been  sometimes  employed  (2  Chron.  3:3; 
Ezek.  40  :  5),  but  only  after  the  captivity.  11.  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it.  This  was  not 
a  mere  gilding,  but  a  covering  of  the  surface  with  thin  plates  of  gold,  as  we  infer  from 
1  Kings  6  :  16,  and  2  Chron.  3  :  6.  The  Talmud  goes  so  far  as  to  conclude  that  three 
chests  were  made,  an  outer  one  of  gold  plate,  a  middle  one  of  shittah  timber,  and  an 
inner  one  of  gold  plate.  Upon  it  a  crown  of  gold.  This  was  a  border  or  cornice  of  pure 
gold  round  the  upper  edge  of  the  ark,  adorning,  and  at  the  same  time  strengthening 
it  for  the  support  of  the  mercy-seat.  12.  Four  rings  or  staples  of  gold  are  to  be  fas- 
tened on  the  two  sides  or  ends  of  the  ark.  They  are  to  be  attached  to  the  feet  or  sup- 
ports by  which  the  ark  was  raised  above  the  level  of  the  floor.  13-15.  The  staves  or 
poles  were  of  acacia  wood  overlaid  with  gold.  They  passed  through  the  rings  at  the 
ends  of  the  ark,  and  as  these  were  attached  to  the  feet  the  ark  was  elevated  above  the 
bearers  (1  Kings  8  :  8).  16.  Thou  shalt  put  into  the  ark  the  testimony.  This  testimony  is 
the  ten  commandments  engraven  on  the  two  tables  of  stone  (31  :  18).  These  ten 
words  are  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  to  the  people  concerning  the  relation  subsisting 
between  them,  and  the  duties  consequent  thereon.  The  contents  of  this  cabinet  dis- 
tinguish it  from  all  heathen  chests  of  a  similar  kind  in  which  were  deposited  certain 
symbols  of  the  powers  of  nature  which  man  regarded  with  a  superstitious  venera- 
tion. Here  are  placed  the  two  tables,  on  which  are  traced  in  plain  and  literal  charac- 
ters the  great  principles  of  eternal  rectitude,  not  as  an  object  of  worship,  but  as  the 
basis  of  all  moral  dealing  in  the  intercourse  between  God  and  man.  There  is  a  sig- 
nificance in  the  very  order  in  which  the  portions  of  this  symbolical  structure  are  spe- 
cified. The  moral  law  is  the  very  centre  of  the  whole  system  of  moi'al  things  ;  and 
accordingly  this  is  first  defined  and  located.  The  ark  in  which  it  is  to  be  deposited 
is  the  first  article  provided  for  the  house  of  God. 

17-22.  The  mercy-seat.  The  ark  is  but  a  part  of  a  greater  whole  ;  and  hence  there 
is  rightly  no  break  here  in  the  Hebrew  text.  The  mercy-seat  is  not  the  mere  cover- 
ing of  the  ark,  which  had  most  probably  a  lid  forming  a  constituent  part  of  itself.     It 


EXODUS  XXV.  17-30.  181 

is  a  separate  piece,  composing,  with  the  ark,  a  unity,  not  so  much  in  outward  form  as 
in  inward  design.  It  is  of  pure  gold,  to  denote  that  expiation  maintains  the  unalter- 
able sanctity  of  the  moral  law  ;  as  everything  must  be  absolutely  perfect  which  pro- 
ceeds from  or  comes  into  contact  with  God.  Its  length  and  breadth  correspond  with 
those  of  the  ark  which  contains  the  testimony,  as  the  propitiation  must  satisfy  the 
law  in  all  its  length  and  breadth.  Two  cherubim.  For  a  description  of  the  cherubim, 
see  on  Gen.  3  :  22-24.  The  cherubim  here  are  symbolic  figurations  of  those  celestial 
attendants  on  the  divine  majesty.  They  are  to  be  of  -gold,  as  representative 
of  pure  and  perfect  beings.  Of  beaten  work.  They  are  to  be  formed  by  the 
hammer  of  malleable  gold.  19.  Out  of  the  mercy-seat  shall  ye  make  the  cheru- 
bim on  its  two  ends.  It  appears  from  this  that  the  cherubim  on  the  two  ends  and  the 
mercy-seat  formed  one  piece  of  workmanship,  either  by  being  beaten  out  of  one 
mass,  or  by  being  permanently  fastened  together  into  one  whole.  The  former  seems 
the  more  natural  sense  of  the  words.  20.  These  figures  have  wings,  spread  out  so  as 
to  overshadow  the  mercy-seat  ;  and  their  faces  are  toward  one  another,  and  toward 
the  mercy-seat.  These  cherubic  figures  had  two  wings  and  only  one  face.  They  had 
the  attitude  of  observant  attention,  and  guarded  with  their  wings  the  place  of  the 
divine  manifestation,  as  became  the  intelligent  and  potential  ministers  of  the  divine 
presence.  These  figures,  then,  are  the  symbolic  indication  of  the  Shekinah,  or 
dwelling  of  God  among  men  ;  an  abstraction  which  is  often  applied  in  Eabbinical 
style  to  the  present  Deity. 

21,  22.  The  mercy-seat  on  the  ark  from  above.  The  mercy-seat,  with  the  attentive 
overshadowing  cherubs,  is  placed  above  the  ark  which  contains  the  testimony.  This 
arrangement  is  significant  of  the  intercourse  of  God  with  fallen  man,  being  founded 
on  the  basis  of  immutable  rectitude,  through  a  propitiation  which  meets  all  the  de- 
mands of  the  violated  law.  And  I  will  meet  thee  there,  appoint  a  meeting,  and  meet 
thee  by  appointment.  Hence  the  tabernacle  is  called  the  tent  of  meeting  by  appoint- 
ment. And  speak  with  thee  .  .  .  of  all  that  I  command  thee  concerning  the  sons  of 
Israel.  This  is  to  be  the  place  of  revelation.  A  definite  place  is  necessary  for  man, 
especially  in  his  infantile  state,  though  not  for  God,  who  is  omnipresent.  The  cher- 
ubim, however,  are  no  part  of  Deity,  and  their  figures  no  semblance  of  God.  They 
merely  indicate  and  mark  the  boundaries  of  the  place  where  God  manifests  his  pres- 
ence. 

Hence  we  perceive  that  the  ark,  mercy-seat,  and  cherubim  form  one  piece  of  em- 
blematic workmanship,  symbolizing  not  God,  but  the  atonement  ;  the  holiness  of  God 
expressed  by  the  law,  and  his  mercy  indicated  by  his  manifested  presence  between 
the  cherubim,  being  mediated  or  brought  into  harmony  by  the  propitiation  figured  by 
the  mercy-seat.  The  great  fundamental  principle  of  reconciliation  is  mooted  here,  to 
be  afterward  developed  and  illustrated  in  the  other  parts  of  the  tabernacle.  From 
this  centre  of  communication  with  God  we  proceed  in  this  remarkable  specification  of 
the  parts  of  the  tabernacle  toward  the  circumference  where  the  communicating  people 
assemble. 

23-30.  The  table.  The  table  is  of  acacia,  two  cubits  long,  a  cubit  broad,  and  a  cubit 
and  a  half  high.  It  is  overlaid  with  pure  gold.  A  border  rises  a  handbreadth  from 
the  leaf.  This  ssems  to  be  an  addition  to  the  table,  and  not  the  upper  part  of  the  tres- 
tle on  which  the  leaf  rests.  The  edge  of  this  table,  and  that  of  the  border  upon  it, 
are  adorned  with  crowns  or  wreaths  of  gold,  the  one  of  which,  therefore,  appears  at 
the  top  and  the  other  at  the  base  of  the  border.     Four  rings  are  attached  to  the  legs 


182  THE    CAI^DLESTICK. 

over  against  the  harder,  and  therefore  beneath  the  leaf,  as  keepers  for  the  staves  or 
poles  on  which  it  is  to  be  borne.  These  staves,  like  the  table,  are  to  be  overlaid  with 
gold. 

20.  Its  dishes  were  bread-plates,  of  which  two  were  placed  on  the  table,  containing 
six  cakes  each  (Lev.  24  : 5,  6).  These  cakes  cannot  have  been  ten  handbreadths  by- 
five,  according  to  Jewish  tradition,  as  one  dish  holding  such  a  cake  would  have  occu- 
pied the  whole  table,  which  was  only  twelve  handbreadths  by  six.  Its  howls  were 
smaller  vessels  for  holding  pure  frankincense  (Lev.  24  :  7),  which  were  placed  upon 
the  two  piles  of  cakes.  Its  flagons  were  large  cans  or  decanters,  in  which  a  supply  of 
wine  was  kept  for  pouring  into  the  cups  or  smaller  vessels  used  for  making  libations  or 
drink-offerings.  The  drink-offering  varied  from  the  fourth  part  to  the  half  of  a  hin 
of  wine,  that  is,  from  a  pint  and  a  half  to  three  pints,  according  to  the  value  of  the 
victim  (Num.  15  : 1-12).  The  dishes,  flagons,  and  cups  must  have  been  of  such  a 
size  that  two  of  each  could  stand  conveniently  on  the  table.  The  bread-trays  might 
have  been  five  by  two  and  a  half  or  three  handbreadths. 

30.  Shew-hread.  The  shew- bread  was  to  consist  of  twelve  cakes,  each  made  of  two 
tenth  deals,  about  three  and  a  half  quarts,  of  fine  flour  (Lev.  24  :  5,  6).  This  is  called 
shew-bread  or  bread  of  the  face,  because  it  was  on  the  table  in  the  Lord's  house,  and 
brought  God  and  man  face  to  face  on  terms  of  reconciliation  and  communion.  The 
table  is  the  place  of  paternal  and  hospitable  entertainment.  The  twelve  cakes  correspond 
in  number  with  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  They  may  be  called  in  one  respect  the 
united  meat-offering  of  all  the  people  ;  but  they  have  a  higher  significance  when  they 
are  actually  partaken  of  by  the  priests  in  the  holy  place  (Lev.  24  : 8,  9).  In  this  re- 
spect they  represent  the  abounding  and  all-sufficing  blessings  of  eternal  life,  dis- 
pensed by  God,  as  he  manifests  himself,  and  dwells  among  his  people.  The  priest 
partaking  of  the  bread  represents  the  family  of  God  bountifully  and  constantly 
regaled  by  him  at  his  paternal  board.  The  tabernacle  swells  to  its  true  significance  as 
the  type  of  the  heavenly  home  when  God  is  surrounded  by  his  intelligent  creatures' 
enjoying,  each  according  to  the  measure  of  its  capacity,  the  precious  sweets  of  a  sus- 
ceptible moral  existence.  This  home,  however,  is  here  presented  in  that  aspect 
which  alone  is  real,  and  at  the  same  time  comfortable  to  the  ransomed  sons  of  a  fallen 
race,  the  salvation  of  whom,  through  the  superabounding  grace  of  God,  gives  a  touch- 
ing character  to,  and  sheds  a  mild  lustre  on,  the  heaven  of  man.  It  has  its  table 
spread  with  heavenly  fare.  The  dishes  are  constantly  replenished  with  bread,  and 
the  flagons  and  cups  are  not  there  without  being  filled  with  wine,  which  was  the 
drink-offering  accompanying  every  sacrifice.  Bread  and  wine  are  the  bloodless  feast 
after  the  sacrifice,  and  are  emblematical  of  all  the  blessings  of  those  who  are  par- 
doned and  accepted  as  righteous  through  the  atoning  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  propi- 
tiation (see  on  Gen.  14  :  18-20). 

31-40.  The  candlestick.  This  was  to  be  made  of  pure  gold,  beaten  with  the  hammer. 
Its  hlock,  or  pedestal  ;  its  shaft,  or  stalk  ;  its  cups,  its  knops,  and  its  flowers,  orna- 
ments on  its  branching  stalks,  shall  be  all  of  one  piece.  32.  Six  hranches  come  off, 
two  and  two,  from  the  main  shaft,  at  three  separate  points  in  the  same  plane,  and 
curved  in  the  form  of  a  quadrant,  so  that  the  lamps  resting  on  their  extremities  are  all 
in  the  same  horizontal  line  with  that  on  the  central  stalk.  33.  Three  cups,  in  the  form 
of  an  almond  nut,  were  on  each  branch*  These  appear  to  have  been  surmounted  by 
a  knop  or  ball,  like  the  apple  of  the  pomegranate,  and  a  flower  which  is  not  specifi- 
cally described.     34-36.  And  in  the  candlestick,  that  is,  the  main  shaft,  shall  be  four 


EXODUS  XXVI.  183 

cups,  knops,  and  flowers.  Under  eacli  pair  of  branches,  and  nnder  the  central  lamp, 
a  cup,  knop,  and  flower  ;  and  all  these  beaten  out  of  the  one  mass  of  gold.  37.  The 
seven  lamps  rest  on  the  flowers  at  the  extremities  of  all  the  stems.  He  who  sets  on 
the  lamps  shall  place  the  candlestick  with  its  lamps  parallel  to  the  south  side  of  the 
tabernacle,  so  as  to  throw  its  whole  radiance  on  the  opposite  side,  where  the  table  is 
situated.  38.  The  snuff -tongs  and  snuff-dishes  explain  themselves.  39.  The  whole 
is  to  be  made  of  a  talent,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of  gold.  Jewish  tra- 
dition fixes  the  height  of  the  candlestick  at  three  cubits,  or  twice  the  height  of  the 
table.  This  fits  it  for  throwing  light  over  the  table,  and  is  therefore  more  probable 
than  the  conjecture  of  Bahr,  that  its  height  was  a  cubit  and  a  half,  or  equal  to  that  of 
the  table.  The  same  tradition  estimates  the  breadth  at  two  cubits,  the  same  as  that 
of  the  table.  The  candlestick  was  placed  on  the  south  side  of  the  holy  place,  prob- 
ably at  the  middle,  opposite  the  table  of  shew-bread. 

As  a  piece  of  furniture,  the  candlestick  evidently  serves  to  give  light  to  those  who 
are  in  the  tabernacle  or  home  of  God.  It  is  an  emblem  of  spiritual  light.  The  seven- 
fold light  is  the  sanctifying  efficacy  of  the  Spirit,  as  seven  is  the  number  of  holiness. 
The  three  pieces  of  furniture  already  described  are  evidently  regarded  by  the  divine 
revealer  as  forming  one  whole,  since  at  the  close  of  their  specification  Moses  is  sol- 
emnly admonished  in  these  words  :  "  and  see  that  thou  make  them  after  their  pat- 
tern, which  thou  wast  shown  in  the  mount."  This  ideal  unity  rests  in  the  salvation 
of  the  sinner  that  returns  to  God,  which  consists  of  peace  with  God,  represented  by 
the  mercy-seat  ;  propitiation,  the  benefits  of  which  are  set  forth  in  the  table,  with  its 
bread  and  wine  ;  and  pui-ification,  which  is  symbolized  by  the  candlestick.  The 
number  three  appears  not  only  in  the  mercy-seat,  with  the  tables  of  the  law  beneath, 
and  the  cherubim  of  the  divine  presence  above  ;  but  also  in  the  ark,  the  table,  and 
the  candlestick.     It  points  to  a  trinity  of  persons  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead. 

CHAP.  XXVI. — THE  TABERNACLE. 

1.   ]3ti^'jO  dwelling,  abode,  habitation,  mansion.  This  consists  of  the  inner  curtains 

or  set  of  curtains,  the  tabernacle  proper  or  booth  n3C>  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^nt  ^piK  ^^^^ 
outer  set  of  curtains  or  awning  of  goats'  hair.  The  two  additional  coverings  of 
rams'  skins  and  badgers'  or  seals"  skins  are  designed  to  protect  the  inner  fabric 
from  the  weather. 

2^n  ^  weaver  who  raises  figures  in  the  web.  ;|-^j^  a  plaiter  or  weaver  in 
general,    ^p-^  an  embroiderer  who  works  figures  with  the  needle. 

iKXVI.  1.  And  the  tabernacle  thou  shalt  make  with  ten  curtains  of  fine  linen 
twined,  and  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson  ;  with  cherubim  of  cunning  work  shalt 
thou  make  them.  2.  The  length  of  one  curtain  shall  be  eight  and  twenty  cubits,  and 
the  breadth  of  one  curtain  four  cubits  ;  all  the  curtains  shall  have  one  measure.  3. 
Five  curtains  shall  be  coupled  one  to  another  ;  and  five  curtains  coupled  one  to 
another.  4.  And  thou  shalt  make  loops  of  blue  on  the  selvedge  of  the  first  curtain  at 
the  end  of  the  coupling  :  and  so  shalt  thou  make  on  the  selvedge  of  the  last  curtain  in 
the  second  coupling.  5.  Fifty  loops  shalt  thou  make  in  the  first  curtain,  and  fifty 
loops  shalt  thou  make  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain  that  is  in  the  second  coupling  :  the 
loops  matching  one  another.  6.  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty  taches  of  gold,  and 
couple  the  ciirtains  one  to  another  with  the  taches  ;  and  the  tabernacle  shall  be  one. 

7.  And  thou  shalt  make  curtains  of  goats'  hair  for  a  tent  over  the  tabernacle  ;  eleven 
curtains  shalt  thou  make.  8.  The  length  of  one  curtain  shall  be  thirty  cubits,  and  the 


184  ■  THE   TABERiq-ACLE. 

breadtli  of  one  curtain  four  cubits  :  the  eleven  curtains  shall  have  one  measure.  9.  And 
thou  shalt  couple  live  curtains  by  themselves,  and  six  curtains  by  themselves  ;  and 
thou  shalt  double  the  sixth  curtain  in  the  fore-front  of  the  tent.  10.  And  thou  shalt 
make  fifty  loops  on  the  selvedge  of  the  one  curtain  that  is  last  in  the  coupling,  and 
fifty  loops  on  the  selvedge  of  the  curtain  in  the  second  coupling.  11.  And  thou  shalt 
make  fifty  taches  of  brass,  and  put  the  taches  into  the  loops,  and  join  the  tent,  and 
it  shall  be  one.  12.  And  the  remnant  that  is  over  of  the  curtains  of  the  tent,  the 
half  curtain  that  is  over  shall  hang  over  the  back  of  the  tabernacle.  13.  And  the 
cubit  on  this  side,  and  the  cubit  on  that  side,  that  are  over  in  the  length  of  the  cur- 
tains of  the  tent  shall  hang  over  the  sides  of  the  tabernacle  on  this  side  and  on  that 
to  cover  it.  1-i.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  covering  for  the  tent  of  rams'  skins  dyed  red, 
and  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins  from  above.  IT  42. 

15.  And  thou  shalt  make  boards  for  the  tabernacle  of  shittah  wood  standing  up. 
16.  Ten  cubits  shall  be  the  length  of  a  board,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  of 
one  board.  17.  Two  tenons  shall  be  to  one  board,  set  alike  one  to  another  :  thus 
shalt  thou  make  for  all  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle.  18.  And  thou  shalt  make  the 
boards  for  the  tabernacle,  twenty  boards  on  the  south  side  southwards.  19.  And 
thou  shalt  make  forty  sockets  of  silver  under  the  twenty  boards  ;  two  sockets  under 
one  board  for  its  two  tenons,  and  tw^o  sockets  under  another  board  for  its  two  tenons. 
20.  And  for  the  second  side  of  the  tabernacle  northwards  there  shall  be  twenty 
boards  ;  21.  And  their  forty  sockets  of  silver  ;  two  sockets  under  one  board,  and  two 
sockets  under  another  board.  22.  And  for  the  rear  of  the  tabernacle  westward  thou 
shalt  make  six  boards.  23.  And  two  boards  shalt  thou  make  for  the  corners  of  the 
tabernacle  in  the  rear.  24.  And  they  shall  be  doubled  beneath,  and  together  they 
shall  be  complete  at  the  top  for  the  one  ring  :  thus  shall  it  be  for  the  two  of  them  ; 
they  shall  be  for  the  two  corners.  25.  And  they  shall  be  eight  boards,  and  their 
sockets  of  silver  sixteen  sockets  ;  two  sockets  under  one  board,  and  two  sockets  under 
another  board.  26.  And  thou  shalt  make  bars  of  shittah  wood,  five  for  the  boards  of 
the  one  side  of  the  tabernacle  ;  27.  And  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the  other  side  of 
the  tabernacle,  and  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the  side  of  the  tabernacle  to  the  rear 
westward.  28.  And  the  middle  bar  in  the  middle  of  the  boards  shall  reach  from  end 
to  end.  29.  And  thou  shalt  overlay  the  boards  with  gold,  and  make  their  rings  of 
gold  to  be  places  for  the  bars  ;  and  thou  shalt  overlay  the  bars  with  gold.  30.  And 
thou  shalt  set  up  the  tabernacle  according  to  the  fashion  thereof  which  thou  wast 
shown  in  the  mount.  §  61. 

31.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  vail  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen 
twined,  of  cunning  work  shalt  thou  make  it,  with  cherubim.  32.  And  thou  shalt 
hang  it  upon  four  pillars  of  shittah,  overlaid  with  gold,  with  their  hooks  of  gold,  upon 
four  sockets  of  silver.  33.  And  thou  shalt  hang  up  the  vail  under  the  taches,  and 
shalt  bring  in  thither  within  the  vail  the  ark  of  the  testimony  ;  and  the  vail  shall  di- 
vide unto  you  between  the  holy  place  and  the  most  holy.  34.  And  thou  shalt  put 
the  mercy-seat  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony  in  the  most  holy  place.  35.  And  thou 
shalt  set  the  table  without  the  vail,  and  the  candlestick  over  against  the  table  on  the 
side  of  the  tabernacle  southward  ;  and  thou  shalt  put  the  table  on  the  side  of  the 
north.  36.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  covering  for  the  door  of  the  tent  of  blue,  and 
purple,  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen  twined,  wrought  with  needlework.  37.  And  thou 
shalt  make  for  the  covering  five  pillars  of  shittah,  and  thou  shalt  overlay  them  with 
gold,  with  their  hooks  of  gold  ;  and  thou  shalt  cast  for  them  five  sockets  of  brass.  §  62. 

After  laying  down  the  plan  of  those  pieces  of  domestic  furniture  which  shadow 
forth  the  ultimate  form  and  loftiest  stage  of  salvation  for  man,  we  descend  to  the 
habitation  in  which  these  are  to  be  placed.  The  tabernacle  proper  occupies  the 
middle  of  the  three  chapters  devoted  to  the  material  things.  It  comes  after  the 
things  contained  as  the  accessory  after  the  principal. 

1-17.  The  mansion.  The  word  tabernacle  applies  chiefly  to  the  wooden  structure 
(nDC^  originally  covered  with  boughs  and  leaves  of  trees.  The  mansion  is  a  more 
general  term,  referring  to  its  use  as  an  abode.  It  has  been  replaced  in  our  version  by 
the  word  tabernacle,  which  is  hallowed  in  our  early  associations,  and  serves  the  pur- 


EXODUS  XXVI.  1-30.  185 

pose  of  a  free  rendering  sufficiently  well.  The  mansion  or  abode  consists  internally 
of  a  pavilion  or  set  of  ten  curtains  of  fine  linen  thead,  interwoven  with  threads  of 
blue,  purple,  and  crimson.  The  spinning  of  the  yarn  was  generally,  but  not  ex- 
clusively-, the  work  of  women,  while  the  weaving  was  more  frequently  done  by  men. 
These  arts  were  well  known  among  the  Egyptians,  as  we  learn  from  their  numerous 
and  interesting  monuments.  Figures  of  chervibim  were  raised  on  the  curtains. 
These  were  the  stated  attendants  on  the  Divine  Majesty,  and  were  therefore  appro- 
priate in  his  symbolic  abode.  2.  The  ten  curtains  covered  a  surface  of  twenty-eight 
by  forty  cubits.  3.  Ten  is  the  number  of  completeness.  For  convenience  five  of 
these  were  coupled  or  stitched  together  into  one  piece,  and  the  remaining  five  into 
another.  4.  For  the  purpose  of  connecting  these  two  halves  the  outer  edges  of  the 
two  middle  curtains  are  provided  with  loops.  5.  Of  these  loops  there  were  fifty,  and 
therefore  forty-nine  intervals  in  twenty-eight  cubits,  or  seven  intervals  in  four  cubits. 
The  distance  between  the  loops  was  about  ten  or  twelve  inches.  6.  These  loops  were 
conjoined  by  fifty  taches  of  gold,  and  the  ten  curtains  were  thus  formed  into  one 
mishkan  or  mansion.  This  constitutes  the  inner  curtain,  which  corresponds  to  the 
tapestry  of  later  times,  or  to  the  plastering  and  papering  of*  our  modern  dwellings. 
It  covered  the  tops,  the  sides,  and  the  western  end  of  the  tabernacle.  The  cherubic 
figures,  we  may  suppose,  were  so  placed  on  the  cloth  that  they  were  upright  on  the 
end  wall  of  the  tabernacle,  so  that  they  would  appear  upright  above  and  on  the  sides 
to  an  eye  placed  above  the  mercy -seat. 

7-15.  The  tent  and  its  coverings  are  next  described.  Curtains  of  goats'  hair  form 
the  usual  tent  in  the  East.  The  tent  (^hK)  ^^  ^®^®  distinguished  from  the  mishkan. 
The  one  is  cast  or  spread  over  the  other  (40  :  19).  Eleven  curtains  composed  the 
tent.  8.  They  are  of  the  same  breadth  as  the  former  curtains,  but  longer  by  two 
cubits.  9.  One  part  is  formed  by  sewing  five  curtains,  the  other  by  sewing  six  cur- 
tains together.  Half  the  breadth  of  the  sixth  curtain  in  this  part  of  the  tent  is  to  be 
doubled,  that  is,  to  hang  over  the  front  of  the  tabernacle.  In  this  way  the  seam  of 
the  upper  curtains  would  always  be  over  the  middle  of  the  lower  curtains.  10,  11. 
The  two  parts  are  connected  in  the  same  waj^  as  before.  12.  The  tent  covers  the  top, 
sides,  and  end  of  the  tabernacle,  and  as  there  is  an  additional  length  of  four  cubits, 
the  one  half  of  it  hangs  over  in  front  and  the  other  remains  over  in  the  rear.  13. 
The  single  curtain  is  longer  by  two  cubits  than  that  of  the  mishkan,  and  therefore 
allows  a  cubit  to  hang  over  on  each  side.  The  difference  is  needful,  because  the  one 
curtain  is  within  and  the  other  without  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle.  14.  The  cover- 
ings of  red  rams'  skins  and  of  badgers'  skins  afford  protection  from  the  rain. 

15-30.  The  wooden  framework,  or  tabernacle  proper.  After  the  pliant  materials 
we  come  to  the  firm  part  of  the  structure.  The  shittah,  shant,  or  acacia  tree,  grows 
to  a  considerable  height.  The  use  of  the  plural  number,  however,  admits  of  one  of 
these  boards  being  composed  of  more  than  one  trunk.  16.  Each  board  is  ten  cubits 
long  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  broad,  that  is,  at  least  fifteen  feet  by  two  and  a  quarter. 
As  the  tabernacle  was  ten  cubits  wide,  and  six  boards,  or  a  breadth  of  nine  cubits, 
seem  to  complete  the  end  (vs.  22),  it  is  probable  that  the  boards  were  half  a  cubit 
thick  at  the  bottom.  It  is  most  likelj^  however,  that  for  the  sake  of  lightness,  they 
tapered  on  the  outside  to  a  thickness  at  the  top  of  an  eighth  of  a  cubit.  In  this  way 
the  inside  would  be  vertical,  the  outside  slightly  sloping,  the  boards  would  have  a 
more  stable  position  and  be  sufficiently  strong,  and  some  difficulties  in  the  concep- 
tion of  the  structure  would  be  removed.     17.  The  tenons  seem  to  form  part  of  the 


186  THE   TABERKACLE. 

length  or  heiglit  of  the  boards.  They  are  "  set  alike,"  or  sj'-mmetrically  situated  on 
the  ends  of  the  boards.  If  they  were  half  a  cubit  deep,  the  curtains  of  the  mishkan, 
being  twenty-eight  cubits  long,  would  exactly  cover  the  top,  of  nine  cubits,  and  the 
sides,  being  nine  and  a  half  cubits  each  above  the  socket  or  mortise.  18.  Twenty 
boards,  each  a  cubit  and  a  half  broad,  will  form  a  side  wall  thirty  cubits  long.  19.  The 
forty  sockets  of  silver  either  rested  on  the  ground  or  were  attached  to  a  solid  sleeper 
of  wood  laid  on  the  ground.  The  latter  method  would  give  the  greater  stability  to 
the  structure.  20,  21.  The  north  side  corresponds  to  the  south.  22-25.  The  six 
boards  seem  to  close  in  the  west  end,  which  they  will  do  if  the  sideboards  be  half  a 
cubit  thick  at  bottom  and  the  measurement  be  from  outside  to  outside.  The  corner 
boards  are  different  from  the  others.  If  the  end  wall  be  placed  at  right  angles  to  the 
side  wall  so  that  their  vertical  boundary  lines  coincide,  their  ends  will  leave  a  right 
angle  to  be  occupied  by  the  corner  boards.  Let  the  base  of  the  corner  board  be  a 
square  cubit,  wanting  a  square  half-cubit  on  the  outer  corner,  and  let  it  taper  on  all 
its  outer  sides  to  a  top  that  shall  be  a  square  eighth  of  a  cubit.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
board  will  be  "doubled"  or  twinned  beneath,  as  it  will  have  two  projecting  parts 
at  right  angles  to  each  other.  Its  base  will  be  a  half  cubit  thick,  and  so  correspond 
with  the  thickness  of  the  others.  Its  breadth  will  be  a  cubit  every  way,  and  so  it  wiU 
fill  up  the  void  square  at  the  corner,  and  project  half  a  cubit  in  the  direction  of  the 
side  and  the  end.  Being  reduced  at  the  top  of  the  mishkan  to  a  square  of  an  eighth 
of  a  cubit,  it  will  exactly  fill  the  square  at  the  top,  and  so  be  "  complete."  One  ring 
or  clamp  of  metal  will  serve  to  make  it  fast  to  the  adjacent  boards  of  the  sides  and 
end.  As  its  breadth,  omitting  the  part  that  is  counted  a  second  time,  is  a  cubit  and 
a  half,  it  has  two  tenons  like  the  other  boards.  This  seems  to  be  an  intelligible  ex- 
planation of  this  somewhat  obscure  description. 

26-28.  As  the  middle  bar  in  the  middle  of  the  boards  reached  from  end  to  end,  it 
is  probable  that  the  other  bars  were  half  its  length,  and  hence  that  three  rows  of 
rings  or  keepers  ran  along  the  sides — one  in  the  middle  for  the  full  length  bars,  and 
the  other  two  between  this  and  the  extremities.  As  the  lower  ends  of  the  boards 
were  fastened  by  the  sockets,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  upper  ends  were  in  some 
way  secured.  29  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  bars  were  on  the  outside,  and 
therefore  the  boards  were  overlaid  on  the  outside  as  well  as  the  inside  with  gold,  as 
Josephus  asserts.  But  it  is  possible  that  the  bars  were  on  the  inside,  and  the  boards 
only  overlaid  with  gold  on  the  inner  side.  This  would  give  greater  lightness  to  the 
boards,  and  would  afford  the  greater  reason  for  making  the  keepers  of  gold  and  over- 
laying the  bars.  But  the  point  in  question  is  of  little  importance.  30.  A  visible 
form  of  the  tabernacle  was  presented  to  the  mind  of  Moses  on  the  mount,  according 
to  which  it  was  to  be  constructed. 

31-37.  The  vails  and  their  pillars  are  now  described.  The  first  vail  was  to  be  of  the 
same  material,  color,  and  pattern  as  the  interior  curtains  of  the  mansion.  32.  The  pil- 
lars would  probably  be  half  a  cubit  in  diameter  at  the  base.  If  one  were  placed  in  contact 
with  each  wall,  the  three  equal  spaces  would  measure  two  and  a  third  cubits,  or  about 
three  and  a  half  feet.  33.  The  vail  is  to  be  suspended  under  the  taches  of  gold  connect- 
ing the  two  halves  of  the  internal  covering.  Hence  it  separates  the  tabernacle  into  two 
parts — the  most  holy  place  of  ten  cubits,  and  the  holy  place  of  twenty.  If  the  pillars 
were  outside  the  vail,  the  interior  of  the  most  holy  place  would  be  curtained  on  every 
side.  34,  35.  The  tabernacle  being  now  divided  into  its  compartments,  the  position 
of  the  articles  of  furniture  already  made  is  determined.     The  ark  of  the  testimony  is 


EXODUS    XXVII.  187 

to  stand  at  the  middle  of  the  -western  wall  in  the  most  holy  place.  It  is  probable  that 
the  table  occupied  the  middle  of  the  north  side,  and  the  candlestick  that  of  the  south 
side.  We  have  already  seen  that  these  three  articles  form  a  unity  of  symbolic  mean- 
ing in  themselves,  apai-t  from  the  articles  yet  to  be  described  (25  :  40). 

36,  37.  The  covering  or  outer  vail  is  of  the  same  material  and  colors  as  the  inner, 
but  it  differs  in  other  respects.  The  figuration  is  wrought  not  by  the  loom,  but  by 
the  needle  ;  and  the  cherubim  are  not  mentioned.  It  is  x^ossible,  however,  that  they 
were  raised  on  the  inner,  but  not  on  the  outer  side  of  the  hanging  ;  as  the  latter 
was  exposed  to  rain,  and  outside  of  the  tabernacle  or  presence-hall  of  God.  As  the 
pillars  had  sockets  of  a  less  costly  metal,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  regarded  as  ex- 
ternal to  the  tabernacle,  and  were,  therefore,  outside  the  hanging.  If  the  two  ex- 
treme pillars  stood  at  the  ends  of  the  sides,  the  other  three  divided  the  east  end  of 
the  tabernacle  into  four  openings  of  fifteen  eights  of  a  cubit,  or  about  thirtj^-four 
inches  each.  These  pillars  were  adorned  with  chapiters,  and  provided  with  connect- 
ing poles  or  rods,  on  which  the  covering  was  supported  by  hooks  (36  :  38).  We  are 
not  informed  whether  the  capitals  were  surmounted  by  a  beam  or  architrave,  giving 
compactness  to  tjie  whole  front  of  the  tabernacle. 

CHAP.  XXVII. — THE    ALTAR   AND    THE    COURT. 

XXVII.  1.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  altar  of  shittah  wood  ;  five  cubits  long  and  five 
cubits  broad  ;  square  shall  the  altar  be  ;  and  the  height  thereof  shall  be  three  cubits. 
2.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  horns  of  it  upon  the  four  corners  thereof  :  its  horns  shall 
be  of  the  same  ;  and  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  brass.  3.  And  thou  shalt  make  its 
boxes  to  remove  its  ashes,  and  its  shovels  and  its  basins,  and  its  flesh-hooks,  and 
its  fire-pans  :  all  its  vessels  thou  shalt  make  of  brass.  4.  And  thou  shalt  make  for  it 
a  grate,  a  network  of  brass  ;  and  thou  shalt  make  on  the  net  four  brazen  rings  on  its 
four  corners.  5.  And  thou  shalt  put  it  under  the  border  of  the  altar  beneath,  and  the 
net  shall  be  unto  the  half  of  the  altar.  6.  And  thou  shalt  make  staves  for  the  altar, 
staves  of  shittah  wood,  and  overlay  them  with  brass.  7.  And  its  staves  shall  be  put 
into  the  rings,  and  the  staves  shall  be  upon  the  two  sides  of  the  altar  to  bear  it.  Hol- 
low, of  boards,  shalt  thou  make  it  ;  as  it  was  shown  thee  in  the  mount  so  shall  they 
make  it.  §  63. 

9.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  court  of  the  tabernacle  :  for  the  south  side  southward 
shall  be  hangings  for  the  court  of  twined  fine  linen,  a  hundred  cubits  long  for  the 
one  side.  10.  And  its  pillars  twenty,  and  their  sockets  twenty,  of  brass  ;  the  hooks 
of  the  pillars  and  their  rods  of  silver.  11.  And  likewise  for  the  north  side  in  length 
shall  be  hangings  a  hundred  cubits  long  :  and  its  pillars  twenty,  and  their  sockets 
twenty,  of  brass  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  rods  of  silver.  12.  And  for  the 
breadth  of  the  court  on  the  west  side  shall  be  hangings  of  fifty  cubits.  13.  And  the 
breadth  of  the  court  on  the  east  side  eastward  shall  be  fifty  cubits.  14.  Fifteen  cu- 
bits shall  be  the  hangings  for  the  one  wing  :  their  pillars  three  and  their  sockets 
three.  15.  And  for  the  other  wing  the  hangings  shall  be  fifteen  cubits  ;  their  pillars 
three  and  their  sockets  three.  16.  And  for  the  gate  of  the  court  shall  be  a  covering 
of  twenty  cubits  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson,  and  twined  fine  linen,  wrought 
with  the  needle  ;  and  their  pillars  four  and  their  sockets  four.  17.  All  the  pillars  of 
the  court  round  about  shall  be  joined  with  rods  of  silver  ;  their  hooks  shall  be  of  sil- 
ver and  their  sockets  of  brass.  18.  The  length  of  the  court  shall  be  a  hundred  cubits, 
and  the  breadth  fifty  everywhere  ;  and  the  height  five  cubits  of  twined  fine  linen, 
and  their  sockets  of  brass.  19.  All  the  vessels  of  the  tabernacle  in  all  the  service 
thereof,  and  all  its  pins  and  the  pins  of  the  court  shall  be  of  brass.  20.  §  §  §  64. 

20.  And  thou  shalt  command  the  children  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  bring  thee  pure 
olive  oil  beaten  for  the  light,  to  set  up  a  continual  lamp.  21.  In  the  tent  of  meeting 
without  the  vail,  which  is  before  the  testimony,  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  order  it 
from  evening  to  morning  before  the  Lokd  :  a  statute  for  ever  to  their  generations  from 
the  sons  of  Israel.  §  65. 


188  THE    ALTAK   AND    THE    COURT. 

We  now  pass  into  the  court  of  tlie  tabernacle.  The  chief  object  here  is  the  great 
altar.  In  the  holy  of  holies  we  have  the  ark  of  testimony,  an  adumbration  of  mercy 
and  truth  met  together.  In  the  holy  place  we  find  the  table  and  the  candlestick,  the 
emblems  of  justification  and  sanctification.  In  the  court  we  come  upon  the  altar,  the 
symbol  of  propitiation,  standing  alone  in  all  its  solemn  impressiveness.  This  is  the 
order  of  things  in  the  history  of  redemption.  The  purpose  of  mercy  is  formed  in  the 
divine  breast.  The  blessings  of  spiritual  renovation  and  heavenly  inheritance  forth- 
with begin  to  be  dispensed.  The  atonement,  through  which  these  legally  come,  is 
made  in  the  fulness  of  time.  Hence  we  perceive  that  the  plan  of  the  tabernacle  first 
leads  us  down  by  sensible  stages  from  God  to  man. 

1-8.  The  altar.  All  former  appearances  of  the  altar  were  occasional  :  now  at  length 
it  comes  before  us  as  a  permanent  institution.  Its  framework  is  composed  of  the 
shant,  the  only  timber  employed  about  the  tabernacle.  Its  horizontal  surface  is  a 
square  of  five  cubits,  or  seven  and  a  half  feet,  and  its  height  three  cubits,  or  four  and 
a  half  feet.  2.  Its  horns  shall  he  of  the  same.  We  conceive  that  the  angle  posts  of  this 
primitive  wilderness  altar  were  three  cubits  high.  The  horns  were  the  parts  of  these 
posts  that  projected  above  the  upper  surface  of  the  altar.  If  they  were  half  a  cubit  in 
height,  the  table  or  upper  plane  of  the  altar  would  be  three  and  three  quarters  feet 
from  the  ground.  At  this  height  the  priest  could  perform  all  his  functions  with  con- 
venience standing  on  the  ground.  The  wooden  frame  is  wholly  overlaid  with  plates 
of  brass,  which  would  preserve  it  from  the  weather  and  the  fire.  3.  The  boxes  for 
removing  the  ashes,  the  shovels  for  transferring  them  to  the  boxes,  the  basins  for 
sprinkling  or  pouring  the  blood,  the  flesh-hooks,  and  the  fire-pans,  were  to  be  made 
of  brass.  4,  5.  The  brazen  grate  of  network  has  been  variously  interpreted.  Many, 
including  Kurtz  and  Keil,  understand  by  the  border  (2;]}"]^)  a  ledge  half  a  cubit  or  a 
cubit  broad  going  round  the  altar  at  half  its  height,  on  which  the  priest  might  stand 
when  ofdciating,  and  by  the  grate  a  network  descending  from  its  outer  edge  to  the 
ground.  But  it  is  obvious  that  the  whole  structure,  being  thus  eight  or  nine  feet 
square,  with  a  large  quantity  of  metal,  would  be  too  heavy  and  cumbrous  to  be  port- 
able. Moreover,  the  rings  for  the  bearing  poles,  being  attached  to  the  grate,  would  be 
at  the  extreme  edges  of  this  square,  and  therefore  placed  in  the  most  inconvenient 
situation  either  for  carrying  or  preventing  a  strain  on  the  article  to  be  carried.  Ka- 
lisch  supposes  the  border  to  be  at  the  top  of  the  altar,  and  the  grate  to  reach  down  to 
the  half  height  of  the  altar.  But  if  the  grate  "  reached  down  from  the  border  to  the 
middle  of  the  altar,"  we  do  not  see  how  it  could  "  receive  whatever  might  fall  from 
the  altar,"  or  what  other  purpose  it  could  serve.  And  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
merely  an  ornament.  By  "  the  half  of  the  altar"  we  understand  not  half  its  height, 
but  half  its  horizontal  area.  The  grate  would  in  that  case  be  a  square  of  nearly  five 
and  a  quarter  feet  in  the  middle  of  the  area,  surrounded  by  a  margin  two  and 
a  quarter  feet  broad.  This  margin,  covered  at  least  with  a  thick  layer  of  brass, 
would  be  the  border  (  i^n^)  beneath  the  inner  edge  of  which  the  brazen  grate  would 
be  fixed  to  contain  the  fire  beneath  the  sacrifice.  The  fine  ashes  would  fall  through 
the  meshes  of  the  network  on  the  ground,  to  be  removed  when  convenient.  This  ex- 
planation is  so  far  favored  by  the  Sept.  that  both  the  border  and  the  grate  are  ren- 
dered, by  the  eaxdpa,  a  hearth.  It  is  to  the  same  extent  supported  by  Josephus  (Antiq. 
iii.  7,  8).  The  grate  also  thus  comes  out  to  be  an  essential  part  of  the  altar,  and  a 
compactness  is  given  to  the  whole  structure.  The  four  rings  seem  to  be  the  keepers 
for  the  staves  by  which  the  altar  was  to  be  carried.     6,  7.  The  staves  are  to  be  put 


EXODUS  XXVII.  9-19.  189 

into  the  rings,  and  are  said  to  be  on  the  two  sides  of  the  altar.  The  word  for  side  here 
(t;^xt)  means  not  the  mere  surface,  but  the  lateral  portion  of  a  thing,  and  therefore 
the  staves  passing  through  rings  attached  to  the  oViter  edges  of  the  grate  may  be 
fairly  said  to  be  on  the  sides  of  the  altar.  An  article  so  weighty  would  have  to  be 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  four  or  eight  men.  8.  The  boarding  may  not  have  extended 
beyond  two  cubits,  leaving  half  a  cubit  of  the  corner  posts  above  for  horns,  and  half 
a  cubit  beneath  for  feet.  This  simple  structure  would  afford  the  lightest,  and  there- 
fore fittest,  form  for  a  portable  altar  of  the  given  dimensions.  The  grate  may  have 
been  a  cubit  deep. 

9-19.  The  court.  The  altar  is  the  principal  thing,  secondary  to  which  is  the  court 
in  which  it  stands.  9-12.  The  court  is  a  hundred  cubits  long  from  east  to  west,  and 
fifty  cubits  broad.  The  hanging  seems  to  have  been  a  web  of  fine  linen  five  cubits 
broad.  This  was  suspended  on  silver  rods,  supported  by  twenty  pillars  on  each  side, 
and  ten  on  the  west  end.  13-16.  On  the  east  side  are  two  wings  or  shoulders  (rin^) 
of  fifteen  cubits,  and  a  gate  of  twenty.  The  pillars  are  reckoned  by  Philo  at  fifty-six, 
the  corner  ones  being  twice  counted.  But  in  this  way  the  distance  between  the  pil- 
lars at  the  side  would  be  different  from  that  between  those  at  the  end,  and  the  ac- 
count of  the  east  end  would  be  unintelligible  without  counting  the  extreme  pillars  of 
the  gate  twice,  and  so  having  eight  pillars  instead  of  ten,  and  two  other  unequal  in- 
tervals. All  is  plain,  however,  when  we  accept  the  sixty  pillars.  Beginning  at  the 
east  end  of  the  north  side  we  attach  the  hanging  to  the  corner  pillar,  but  do  not  count 
it.  After  that  we  count  twenty  pillars  for  the  twenty  equal  lengths  of  five  pubits  in 
the  one  hundred.  Beginning  again  at  the  north  end  of  the  west  side,  we  do  not 
count  the  corner  one,  as  it  was  counted  already,  and  ten  equal  lengths  bring  us  to  the 
fiftj^  cubits  of  that  end  with  its  ten  pillars.  So  we  proceed  with  the  south  side.  And 
the  south  shoulder  has  three  pillars  besides  the  corner  one  counted  before.  The  gate 
has  four  besides  the  extreme  one  south  counted  before.  And  the  north  shoulder  has 
three  pillars  including  the  corner  one  not  counted  at  first.  17.  The  pillars  are  pro- 
vided with  hooks,  on  which  the  rods  that  connect  them  and  support  the  inclosing 
canvas  rest.  The  hooks  and  rods  are  of  silver.  We  are  informed  also  that  the  pil- 
lars have  chapiters  overlaid  with  silver  (28  :  17).  The  sockets  in  which  they  are  in- 
serted are  of  brass.  The  pillars  themselves  are  usually  supposed  to  be  of  wood, 
though  the  material  is  not  mentioned  in  the  text.  The  overlajdng  of  the  chapiters 
with  silver  favors  this  view.  19.  All  the  vessels  of  the  tabernacle,  with  the  exceptions 
already  made,  were  to  be  of  brass.  The  pins  were  for  fastening  the  tent  and  its  cov- 
erings, and  probably  the  pillars  of  the  courts. 

The  place  of  the  tabernacle  we  hold  to  be,  not  exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  court,  as 
Josephus  may  be  construed  to  mean,  but,  as  Philo  explains,  twenty  cubits  from  the 
west,  north,  and  south  sides  of  the  court.  For  in  this  way  a  perfect  square  of  fifty 
cubits  is  left  in  front,  to  be  occupied  by  the  great  altar  and  the  laver,  with  the  com- 
pany of  officials  and  worshippers,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

The  altar  is  representative  of  the  earth,  on  which  sin  has  been  committed  and  pro- 
pitiation has  to  be  made.  Its  four  sides  also  correspond  with  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world.  Its  elevation  intimates  the  lifting  up  of  the  sacrifice  to  the  Holy  Governor  by 
whom  it  must  be  exacted.  The  horns  are  emblems  of  power,  and  denote  the  virtue 
of  sacrifice  in  procuring  remission  of  sin  and  all  its  concomitant  blessings.  The 
breadth  of  the  altar  is  five  cubits  ;  that  of  the  court  is  five  tens  of  cubits,  the  half  of 
its  length,  and  the  height  of  the  pillars  of  the  court  is  five  cubits.     These  are  con- 


190  THE   ATTIRE   OF   THE   PEIESTS. 

trasted  with  ten,  three,  and  one,  the  numerical  factors  in  the  tabernacle.  They 
adumbrate  in  their  own  way  the  pre-eminence  of  the  tabernacle,  which  is  the  type 
of  heaven  (Heb.  9  :  24),  over  the  court,  which  is  the  figurative  semblance  of  the  earth. 
And  the  manifold  connections  between  them,  as  well  as  the  presence  of  the  altar  in 
the  court,  indicate  the  design  that  the  earth  should  eventually  become  a  constituent 
part  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  We  have  seen  that  the  ark  of  the  covenant  forms  a 
triad  in  itself,  that  the  ark,  the  candlestick,  and  the  table  form  another  ;  and  now  we 
notic3  that  the  most  holy,  the  holy  place,  and  the  court  form  a  third. 

20,  21.  The  oil  for  the  lamps.  Olive  oil.  This  is  uniformly  employed  for  lights  in 
the  sanctuary  and  for  anointing.  It  is  a  vegetable  oil,  and  fit  for  the  purpose  of  sig- 
nifying illumination  and  sanctification.  The  fat  of  beasts  was  employed  to  represent 
propitiation.  'Pure,  taken  from  the  olive  alone.  Beaten,  obtained  from  olives  not 
pressed  in  a  press,  but  pounded  in  a  mortar.  The  latter  is  said  to  be  a  sweeter,  finer 
oil,  and  of  a  whiter  color.  To  set  up  a  continual  lamp,  a  lamp  that  shall  burn  without 
interruption,  that  is,  every  night  in  the  sanctuary.  Some  suppose,  however,  that  at 
least  one  of  the  seven  lamps  on  the  candlestick  was  allowed  to  burn  all  day,  so  that  a 
perpetual  flame  was  ke]pt  up  in  the  tabernacle.  In  the  tent  of  meeting  or  appointment. 
The  tabernacle  is  here  called  the  tent,  because  it  is  viewed  from  the  exterior,  where 
it  was  a  tent,  not  from  the  interior,  where  it  was  a  mishkan  or  pavilion.  It  is  desig- 
nated the  tent  of  meeting,  because  at  its  door  or  at  the  gate  of  its  court  was  the  place 
for  the  appointed  times  of  the  Lord's  meeting  with  his  people.  The  gate,  in  the  East, 
was  the  customary  place  of  meeting  and  transacting  business  between  prince  and 
people.  Hence  to  this  day  we  have  the  Ottoman  Porte.  Without  the  vail  in  the  holy 
place  stood  the  candlestick.  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  to  set  the  lamps  on  the  candle- 
stick and  light  them  in  the  evening,  and  in  the  morning  clean  them  and  supply  them 
with  fresh  oil  (30  :  7,  8  ;  Lev.  23  :  3,  4).  A  statute  for  ever,  an  institution  to  be  observed 
as  long  as  the  whole  ceremonial  economy  should  remain  in  force.  From  the  sons  of 
Israel,  to  be  supplied  by  them  for  this  sacred  use. 

A  new  synagogue  lesson  begins  with  these  two  verses,  whereby  their  connection 
with  that  which  follows  is  signalized.  They  form  indeed  a  transition  from  the  taber- 
nacle to  the  priest  of  the  tabernacle.  The  oil  for  the  lamps  of  the  candlestick  is  nat- 
urally mentioned  here  that  we  may  not  leave  the  tabernacle  without  light.  The  light 
indeed  is  emblematic  of  the  light  of  him  who  is  Light,  and  who  enlightens  his  own 
transcendent  dwelling-place  (Rev.  21  :  23).  It  serves  also  to  indicate  the  need  of  a 
minister  of  the  tabernacle,  and  so  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  office  and  array  of  the 
high  j)riest. 

CHAP.    XXVIII. — THE    ATTIRE    OF    THE    PRIESTS. 


4.  "j^pi  ireast-piece  ;  r.  he  fair  or  graceful.  It  is  perhaps  connected  with  'j\j]-] 
the  lyreast ;  r.  he  strong^  firm.  l"j£){^  epTiod,  a  jacket  or  shoulder-piece  ;  r.  draw 
on,  over,  or  round.  71^^  robe,  a  second  tunic,  without  sleeves,  worn  under  the 
ephod,  reaching  to  the  knees  ;  r.  cover  or  extend.  DDJHD  ''''^'i'tre,  tiara  ;  r.  wind, 
LD33N  9i^^dle  ;  r.  hind. 

17.  CIK  (^^'i-P^'-ov,  a  stone  of  a  red  color,  the  sardius  or  carnelian  nitOD  'ottu^lov^ 
the  topaz  of  Kush  (Job  27  :  19).  It  is  generally  of  a  yellow  color  ;  which  agrees 
with  von  Bohlen's  derivation  from  the  Sanscrit  pita,  yellow.  HiPI^  (y/^dpay6oS  ; 
r.  flash.     It  is  akin  to  the  emerald. 


EXODUS   XXVIII.  191 

18.  rirj  avOpa^^  carbuncle  or  ruby.  "119c  ca'K6eipo<^^  sapphire;  r.  scrapa, 
polish.  C/TP  '"«^<^^'C  ;  r-  ^eat,  strike.  Some  make  this  the  emerald.  It  may  be 
the  diamond,  as  others  take  it. 

19.  CIl^^  Xiyvptov^  a  kind  of  hyacinth.  I'^t^;  «a:^^^;5,  agate,  a  conapound  of 
quartz,  chalcedony,  carnelian,  jasper,  and  other  ingredients.  nD/riN  f^/^tOvoroS  ; 
r.  dream.     It  v/as  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  causing  dreams. 

20.  t^nti^nn  .TP^^'^^i6o5.  A  gem  of  Tarshish  or  Tartessus  in  Spain.  JZTW  ^^^^5 
as  the  Sept.  elsewhere  gives.  It  is  of  a  pale  color,  like  the  human  nail.  il^B'W'* 
laaTTLi;  ;  r.  shine,  le  smooth.     A  stone  of  a  bright  green  color. 

22.  ni72!l  ^  bordering  or  connecting  ;  r.  'border.  Others  render  it  a  twisting  or 
wreathing. 

30.   C'*11{^  ^iff^iis-     C/^n  perfections,  rights. 

XXVIII.  1.  And  thou  bring  near  for  thee  Aaron  thy  brother,  and  his  sons  with  him, 
from  among  the  sons  of  Israel,  to  act  as  priests  unto  me  ;  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu, 
Eleazer  and  Ithamar,  Aaron's  sons.  2.  And  tliou  slialt  make  holy  garments  for 
Aaron  thy  brother  for  glory  and  for  beauty.  3,  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  all  the 
wise  of  heart,  whom  I  have  filled  with  the  spirit  of  Avisdom  ;  and  they  shall  make 
Aaron's  garments,  to  consecrate  him  to  act  as  priest  unto  me.  4.  And  these  are  the 
garments  which  they  shall  make  ;  a  breastplate,  and  an  ephod,  and  a  robe,  and  a 
chequered  coat,  a  mitre  and  a  girdle  :  and  they  shall  make  holy  garments  for  Aaron 
thy  brother,  and  for  his  sons  to  act  as  priests  unto  me.  5.  And  they  shall  take  gold, 
and  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen.  II  43. 

6.  And  they  shall  make  the  ephod  of  gold,  blue,  and  purple,  crimson  and  twined 
fine  linen,  with  cunning  work.  7.  It  shall  have  two  shoulder-straps  joining  it  ;  at  the 
two  edges  thereof  shall  it  be  joined.  8.  And  the  belt  for  fastening  it,  which  is 
upon  it,  according  to  the  work  thereof,  shall  be  of  the  same  ;  of  gold,  of  blue,  and 
purple,  and  crimson,  and  twined  fine  linen.  9.  And  thou  shalt  take  two  onyx  stones, 
and  grave  on  them  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  10.  Six  of  their  names  on  the 
one  stone,  and  the  names  of  the  other  six  on  the  second  stone,  according  to  their 
birth.  11.  "With  the  work  of  an  engraver  in  stone,  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  shalt 
thou  grave  the  two  stones  with  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  :  inclosed  in  ouches  of 
gold  shalt  thou  make  them.  12.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  two  stones  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  ephod,  to  be  stones  of  memorial  for  the  sons  of  Israel  :  and  Aaron  shall 
bear  their  names  before  the  Lord  upon  his  two  shoulders  for  a  memorial.  §  66. 

13.  And  thou  shalt  make  ouches  of  gold.  14.  And  two  chains  of  pure  gold,  attach- 
ing shalt  thou  make  them,  of  wreathen  work,  and  thou  shalt  fasten  the  wreathen 
chains  on  the  ouches.  §  67. 

15.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  breastplate  of  judgment  with  cunning  work  ;  after  the 
work  of  the  ephod  shalt  thou  make  it  :  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson, 
and  twined  fine  linen,  shalt  thou  make  it.  16.  It  shall  be  square,  doubled  ;  a  span 
shaU  be  its  length,  and  a  span  shall  be  its  breadth.  17.  And  thou  shalt  set  in  it  set- 
tings of  stone,  four  rows  of  stones  ;  a  row  of  sardius,  topaz,  and  emerald,  shall  be  the 
first  row.  18.  And  the  second  row  a  carbuncle,  a  sapphire,  and  a  diamond.  19.  And 
the  third  row,  a  ligure,  an  agate,  and  an  amethyst.  20.  And  the  fourth  row  a  chryso- 
lite, and  an  onyx,  and  a  jasper  ;  they  shall  be  mounted  with  gold  in  their  settings. 
21.  And  the  stones  shall  be  with  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  twelve,  according 
to  their  names  ;  with  the  engravings  of  a  signet  each  with-  its  name,  shall  they  be  for 
the  twelve  tribes.  22.  And  thou  shalt  make  upon  the  breastplate  attaching  chains  of 
wreathen  work  of  pure  gold.  23.  And  thou  shalt  make  upon  the  breastplate  two  rings 
of  gold,  and  put  the  two  rings  on  the  two  ends  of  the  breastplate.  24.  And  thou 
shalt  put  the  two  cords  of  gold  in  the  two  rings  on  the  ends  of  the  breastplate.  25. 
And  the  other  two  ends  of  the  two  cords  thou  shalt  fasten  on  the  two  ouches,  and  put 
them  on  the  shoulders  of  the  ephod,  in  front  of  it.  26.  And  thou  shalt  make  two 
rings  of  gold,  and  put  them  upon  the  two  ends  of  the  breastplate,  on  the  border 
thereof  which  is  on  the  side  of  the  ephod  inward.  27.  And  thou  shalt  make  two  rings 


192  THE    ATTIRE    OF   THE    PRIESTS. 

of  gold,  and  put  them  on  the  shoulder-straps  of  the  ephod  beneath,  in  the  front  of  it, 
over  against  the  joining  thereof,  above  the  belt  of  the  ephod.  28.  And  they  shall 
bind  the  breastplate  by  its  rings  to  the  rings  of  the  ephod  with  a  lace  of  blue,  to  be 
upon  the  belt  of  the  ephod,  that  the  breastplate  be  not  loosed  from  the  ephod.  29. 
And  Aaron  shall  bear  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  in  the  breastplate  of  judgment 
upon  his  heart,  when  ho  goeth  into  the  holy  place,  for  41  memorial  before  the  Loud 
continually.  30.  And  thou  shall  put  in  the  breastplate  the  Urim  and  the  Tummim  : 
and  they  shall  be  upon  Aaron's  heart  when  he  goeth  in  before  the  Lord  ;  and  Aaron 
shall  bear  the  judgment  of  the  sons  of  Israel  upon  his  heart  before  the  Loed  contin- 
ually. §  68. 

31.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  robe  of  the  ephod  all  of  blue.  32.  And  there  shall  be 
a  hole  for  the  head  in  the  midst  thereof  :  it  shall  have  a  binding  round  the  hole  of  it 
of  woven  work,  as  it  were  the  hole  of  a  habergeon,  that  it  be  not  rent.  33.  And  thou 
shalt  make  upon  the  hem  of  it  pomegranates  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson,  round 
about  the  hem  thereof  ;  and  bells  of  gold  between  them  round  about.  34.  A  bell  of 
gold  and  a  pomegranate,  a  bell  of  gold  and  a  pomegranate,  upon  the  hem  of  the  robe 
round  about.  35.  And  it  shall  be  upon  Aaron  to  minister  :  and  his  sound  shall  be 
heard,  when  he  goeth  into  the  holy  place  before  the  Loed,  and  when  he  cometh  out  ; 
and  he  shall  not  die.  §  69. 

36.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  plate  of  pure  gold,  and  grave  upon  it  with  the  engrav- 
ings of  a  signet,  holiness  to  the  Lord.  37.  And  thou  shalt  put  it  on  a  lace  of  blue, 
and  it  shall  be  upon  the  mitre  ;  upon  the  forefront  of  the  mitre  shall  it  be.  38.  And 
it  shall  be  upon  Aaron's  forehead,  and  Aaron  shall  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  holy  things 
which  the  sons  of  Israel  shall  hallow  in  all  their  holy  gifts  :  and  it  shall  be  upon  his 
forehead  continually,  that  they  may  be  accepted  before  the  Loed. 

39.  And  thou  shalt  weave  in  figures  the  coat  of  linen,  and  thou  shalt  make  a  mitre 
of  linen,  and  thou  shalt  make  a  girdle  of  needlework. 

40.  And  for  Aaron's  sons  thou  shalt  make  coats,  and  thou  shalt  make  for  them 
girdles,  and  bonnets  shalt  thou  make  for  them  for  glory  and  beauty,  41.  And  thou 
shalt  put  them  upon  Aaron  thy  brother,  and  his  sons  with  him;  and  thou  shalt  anoint 
them,  and  fill  their  hand,  and  sanctify  them,  and  they  shall  be  priests  unto  me.  42. 
And  make  for  them  linen  breeches  to  cover  the  flesh  of  nakedness  ;  from  the  loins 
even  unto  the  thighs  shall  they  be.  43.  And  they  shall  be  upon  Aaron  and  upon  his 
sons  when  they  go  into  the  tent  of  meetings,  or  when  they  draw  nigh  to  the  altar  to 
minister  in  the  holy  place  ;  and  they  shall  not  bear  iniquity  or  die  :  a  statute  for  ever 
to  him  and  to  his  seed  after  him.  §  70. 

As  soon  as  we  arrive  at  the  altar  we  feel  the  need  of  the  priest  who  is  to  officiate 
thereat.  The  priest  stands  at  the  middle  point  between  God  and  man  in  this  descrip- 
tion. Hitherto  we  have  come  forth  from  God  to  man.  With  the  priest  we  shall  pres- 
ently return  from  man  to  God.  From  God  the  priest  comes  to  man,  authorized  to 
invite  the  sinner  to  return  with  penitence,  confession,  and  faith  to  God,  and  to  make 
the  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  all  who  return.  From  man  he  returns  to  God,  having 
made  propitiation,  to  make  prevailing  intercession  for  all  whom  he  represents.  His 
generic  character  then  is  to  be  the  mediator  between  God  and  man,  authorized  on 
the  one  hand,  and  accepted  on  the  other.  His  specific  difference  is,  that,  inasmuch  as 
man  is  sinful,  he  has  to  make  the  expiation  that  satisfies  for  sin,  and  renders  his 
mediation  effectual.  The  present  chapter  enjoins  the  calling  and  clothing  of  Aaron 
and  his  sons  in  official  robes.  The  garments  of  the  priests  are  so  minutely  specified, 
not  because  the  outer  covering  is  of  any  importance  in  itself,  provided  it  be  only 
decent  and  comely,  but  because  it  is  intended  to  be  symbolic  of  the  various  duties 
which  the  priest  has  to  perform.  This  design  comes  out  again  and  again  in  the  de- 
scription, and  gives  an  instructive  significance  to  matters  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  left  to  the  taste  of  the  individual.  Teaching  by  figures  was  peculiarly  appropri- 
ate in  the  infantile  state  of  the  world,  when  men  had  their  very  ideas  yet  to  form,  and 
oral  instruction  and  literary  ediication  were  open  to  a  very  few. 


EXODUS  XXVIII.   1-14.  193 

1-5.  The  call  to  tlie  priesthood,  and  the  general  enumeration  of  the  priestly  gar- 
ments. And  thou.  Moses  has  been  hitherto  the  plenipotentiary  of  heaven,  including 
all  ofi&ces  and  powers  in  himself.  To  him,  then,  all  commands  are  issued.  Bring  near 
for  thee.  For  thy  part  bring  near  unto  me.  From  among  the  so7is  of  Israel,  who  are  all, 
in  a  larger  sense,  "  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation"  (19  :  6).  To  he 
priests  unto  me.     The  term  v-i^  (Kohen)  is  sometimes  applied  to  a  civil  officer,  bearing 

the  same  relation  to  the  king  that  the  priest  does  to  the  King  of  kings  (2  Sam.  8  :  18  ; 
20  :  26  ;  1  Kings  4  :  8  ;  1  Chron.  18  :  17).  Hence  it  originally  means  a  mediator,  advo- 
cate, or  intercessor  appointed  by  the  sovereign.  The  element  of  sin  in  the  case  of 
man  involves  the  office  of  expiation  in  an  efficacious  mediator,  and  this  is  the  priest, 
strictly  so  called.  2.  Holy  garments.  Holy  because  divinely  prescribed,  and  having 
a  holy  significance.  They  figured  the  righteousness  which  is  the  outward  garb  of  a 
soul  loyal  to  God.  For  glory  and  for  beauty.  Glory  is  the  outshining  of  intrinsic 
excellence.  Beauty  is  that  pleasing  characteristic  which  distinguishes  the  glorious 
from  the  shameful.  For  evil  has  its  sensible  outgoing  of  shame  and  ugliness.  The 
inward  cannot  but  have  its  corresponding  outward  show  to  an  all-penetrating  eye. 
The  highest  of  all  excellence  is  moral  rectitude,  the  glory  and  beauty  of  which  are 
shadowed  forth  by  the  priestly  garments.  3.  The  wise  of  heart.  The  heart  is  the  term 
for  the  whole  mental  faculties  in  the  metaphorical  usage  of  Hebrew  speech.  The 
spirit  of  loisdom  here  is  that  pre-eminent  mechanical  skill  which  is  competent  to  con- 
ceive and  realize  the  design  in  hand.  4,  5.  Six  parts  of  the  sacerdotal  attire  are  here 
enumerated,  three  of  which  are  peculiar  to  the  high  priest— the  breastplate,  the 
ephod,  and  the  robe.  The  other  three  are  common  with  him  to  the  other  priests — the 
chequered  coat,  the  mitre,  and  the  girdle,  with  this  difference,  that  in  place  of  the 
mitre,  the  common  priest  has  the  bonnet  or  turban  (vs.  40).  The  number  three  is 
conspicuous  here,  as  in  the  structure  of  the  tabernacle.  The  doubling  of  this  num- 
ber in  the  high  priest's  attire  indicates  his  pre-eminence  in  priestly  rank.  The 
materials  of  which  they  are  to  consist  are  the  same  that  were  used  in  making  the 
inner  curtains  of  the  sanctuary. 

G-14.  The  ephod.  The  materials  and  workmanship  of  the  ephod  and  the  curtains  of 
the  mishkan  are  the  same,  with  the  exception  of  the  cherubim.  7,  8.  A  patient  con- 
sideration of  the  description  of  the  ephod  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  a  shoul- 
der-piece (e~cjui5,  Sept.)  or  single  lappet  covering  the  back  and  reaching  under  the 
arm.  This  was  kept  in  its  place  by  two  contrivances  :  First,  tivo  shoulder-straps  ex- 
tending from  the  upper  part  behind  were  attached  to  the  side  pieces  under  the  arms 
that  came  out  in  front  immediately  above  the  waistband  :  Secondly,  the  belt  along  the 
lower  part  of  the  ephod  went  round  the  waist,  and  so  fastened  it  on.  The  Kabbins, 
indeed,  and  many  commentators  after  them,  hold  that  there  were  two  lappets,  each  a 
cubit  in  length,  one  in  front  and  one  behind,  connected  by  two  shoulder-straps.  But 
this  is  against  the  text,  and  against  Josephus,  who  expressly  states  that  the  ephod 
left  the  breast  uncovered  (Antiq.  iii.  7,  5).  The  lappet,  straps,  and  belt  were  all  of  the 
same  materials,  and  apparently  of  the  same  piece.  The  gold  was  beaten  into  thin 
plates,  and  cut  into  wires,  in  order  to  be  interwoven  with  the  blue,  and  purple,  and 
scarlet,  and  fine  linen  (39  :  3).  9-12.  Two  onyx  stones  are  to  be  set  in  ouches  of  gold 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  ephod.  The  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  are  to  be  engraven, 
six  on  each  stone,  according  to  their  hirth.  The  names  of  the  elder  six  sons,  according 
to  Josephus,  were  on  the  right  shoulder,  and  those  of  the  other  six  on  the  left.  The 
probable  arrangement  is,  Keuben,  Simon,  Levi,  Judah,  Dan,  Naphtali  ;  Gad,.  Ashsr-,. 


194  THE    EPHOD. 

Issakar,  Zebulun,  Joseph,  Benjamin.  These  stones  are  to  be  stones  of  memorial  for  the 
sons  of  Israel  before  the  Lord.  The  engraven  names,  like  all  writings,  perpetuate  the 
remembrance  of  the  persons  or  things  named.  This,  therefore,  intimates  that  the 
descendants  of  Israel  are  on  the  memory  of  the  high  priest  when  he  appears  before 
the  Lord.  And  the  direction  concerning  these  names  indicates  that  in  all  this  the 
God  of  mercy  has  Israel  in  perpetual  remembrance.  The  office  of  the  high  priest  has 
a  twofold  aspect,  as  he  is  the  plenipotentiary  of  heaven  to  man,  and  as  he  is  the 
propitiator  of  heaven  for  man.  The  badge  of  official  authority  was  carried  on  the 
shoulder.  Hence  the  ephod  with  its  onyx  stones  shadows  forth,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  authority  of  the  high  priest  as  appointed  of  God  to  his  high  office.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  bearing  of  the  names  on  the  shoulder  indicates  the  propitiatory  power  of  the 
high  priest's  office.  The  shoulder  is  the  seat  of  bearing  power.  And  bearing  the 
names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  is  a  forcible  Hebrew  symbol  for  saving  them  by  an  inter- 
position, which  prevails  in  virtue  of  a  proper  atonement.  By  a  familiar  expansion 
of  the  figures,  the  high  priest  appears  as  the  shepherd  (Gen.  49  :  24)  who  bears  the 
lambs  on  his  shoulders.  He  thus  becomes  the  significant  type  of  the  great  High 
Priest,  whose  everlasting  arms  are  underneath  his  ^people.  The  onyx  stones  are  two, 
simply  because  the  shoulders  are  two  on  which  the  people  are  borne.  The  names  are 
in  a  group  upon  these  stones,  to  indicate  that  the  one  atonement  is  made  for  the 
whole  body  of  the  faithful. 

13,  14.  These  two  verses  stand  by  themselves  in  the  original  text,  and  form  the 
transition  from  the  description  of  the  ephod  to  that  of  the  breastplate.  The  ouches  of 
gold  seem  to  be  those  in  which  the  onyx  stones  are  set.  Attaching.  The  word  jr^;^")-!?; 
is  very  obscure.  The  meaning,  "twisted,"  now  generally  given  to  it,  is  implied  in 
the  following  word.  It  appears  to  refer  to  the  use  made  of  the  chains.  They  were 
formed  not  of  rings,  but  of  gold  threads  twisted  in  the  manner  of  a  cord.  These  are 
fastened  on  the  ouches,  and  serve  to  suspend  the  breastpiece,  and  form  a  close  con- 
nection between  it  and  the  onyx  stones. 

15-30.  The  breastplate  of  judgment,  loyelov  rrjS  Kplaeui,  (vs.  30)  is  not  a  plate 
strictly  so  called,  but  a  piece  of  figured  stuff  like  the  ephod  ;  which,  when  doubled, 
formed  a  square  of  a  span,  or  about  nine  inches  each  way.  17.  Thou  shalt  set  it  in 
settings  of  stone.  The  twelve  stones  were  to  be  set  in  gold  (vs.  20).  The  settings  may 
have  been  separate,  biit  it  is  much  more  likely  that  they  were  connected  in  a  square 
frame  of  gold,  which  was  attached  to  the  variegated  cloth  of  the  breastplate,  as  the 
settings  of  the  onj^x  stones  to  the  shoulder-straps  of  the  ejphod.  The  names  of  the 
twelve  sons  of  Israel  were  to  be  engraven  on  these  stones.  The  probable  equivalents 
of*  the  Hebrew  names  of  these  stones  are  given  in  the  version.  It  is  of  no  impor- 
tance to  ascertain  the  precise  nature  of  each  stone,  as  the  particular  name  engraven 
on  each  is  not  specified.  It  suffices  to  know  that  the  characters  of  the  tribes  were  as 
different  as  those  of  the  stones.  22-25.  The  wreathen  or  twisted  chains  before  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  ephod  (vs.  15)  are  here  introduced  in  their  relation  to 
the  breastplate.  They  are  hooked  on  two  rings  attached  to  the  upper  corners  of  the 
breastplate,  while  their  other  ends  are  fastened,  as  already  stated,  to  the  ouches  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  ephod  26-28.  The  breastplate,  thus  suspended,  is  to  be  kept  in 
its  place  by  a  lace  tying  a  ring  on  each  of  its  two  lower  corners  to  a  corresponding 
ring  on  each  of  the  lower  ends  of  the  shoulder-  straps  above  the  belt  of  the  ephod. 
26.  The  two  rings  of  the  breastplate  are  to  be  placed  on  the  border  of  it,  on  the  farther  or 
lower  side  of  the  ephod,  inward;  that  is,  on  the  side  next  the  ephod.     27.  The  two  rings 


EXODUS  XXVIII.  29,  30.  195 

of  tlie  ephod  are  to  match  tliem  underneath  on  the  ends  of  the  shoulder-straps,  which 
are  continued  down  to  the  belt,  in  the  front  of  it,  on  the  borders  of  it  which  come  under 
the  arms  to  meet  the  breastpiece,  which  overlaps  it,  and  covers  the  space  left  in 
front.  Over  against  the  joining  thereof,  the  joining  of  the  shoulder-strap  with  the  side 
and  with  the  belt  of  the  ephod. 

29.  The  breastplate  itself,  filling  ap  the  space  of  a  span  on  the  breast  between  the 
two  shoulder-straps,  and  attached  thereto  above  and  below,  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
complement  of  the  ephod.  As  the  breastpiece  was  two  spans  or  a  cubit  deep,  so 
Josephus  informs  us  (iii.  7,  5)  that  the  ephod  was  of  the  depth  of  a  cubit,  and  so  ex- 
tended as  far  below  the  belt  behind  as  the  breastplate  itself  before.  Being  part  of  a 
common  whole,  they  share  in  a  common  significance.  The  names  on  the  breast- 
plate, in  common  with  those  on  the  ephod,  serve  for  a  memorial  of  Israel  before  the 
Lord  (vs.  12).  As  the  heart,  in  its  ethical  sense,  is  the  seat  of  intellectual  and  moral 
faculty,  the  breastplate  on  the  heart  is  the  emblem  of  oracular  and  judicial  utterance. 
Hence  it  is  called  the  breastplate  of  judgment,  and  in  the  Sept.  Tioyelov  rfjS  npicEuc, 
the  oracle  of  judgment.  In  this  respect  the  high  priest  appears  as  the  authoritative 
and  inspired  sj^okesman  of  him  who  is  the  God  of  truth  and  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth.  On  the  other  hand,  the  bearing  of  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  on  his  heart 
is  a  symbol  of  intercession,  the  second  half  of  the  priestly  mediation  for  the  children 
of  God.  As  each  name  is  now  on  a  separate  stone,  so  every  individual  believer  in 
Him  who  has  made  the  all-covering  atonement  has  a  special  place  in  that  all-prevail- 
ing intercession  which  is  continually  going  on  at  the  throne  of  grace. 

30.  The  Urim  and  the  Tummim.  And  thou  shalt  put  into  the  hreastplate.  The 
breastpiece  itself  is  a  piece  of  elaborately  finished  cloth  (vs.  15).  The  symmetrical 
set  of  precious  stones  mounted  in  gold,  whether  separate  or  in  a  common  frame,  had 
to  be  constructed  apart,  and  then  placed  loithin  the  compass  of  (  ^^)  the  breastplate, 
and  attached  to  it  in  the  ordinary  way.  This  is  expressed,  not  before,  but  now,  in 
the  words  above  quoted.  This  being  so,  the  Urim  and  Tummim  are  the  twelve 
precious  stones  mounted  in  gold,  which  are  now  put  in  the  breastplate.  And  they 
shall  be  upon  Aaron' s  heart  when  he  goeth  in  hefore  the  Lord.  These  significant  stones 
shall  be  on  the  breast  of  the  high  priest  when  he  goes  in  to  intercede,  or  essays  to 
consult  the  Lord  for  Israel  or  a  son  of  Israel. 

And  Aaron  shall  hear  the  judgment  of  the  sons  of  Israel  upon  his  heart  before  the  Lord 
continually.  A  judgment  is  a  decision  or  sentence  according  to  law  or  right.  Now 
the  right  of  those  who  are  actually  guilty,  and  therefore  obnoxious  to  the  penalty  of 
the  law,  resides  not  in  themselves,  but  in  their  high  priest,  who  gives  satisfaction  for 
the  offence,  and  fulfils  the  requirements  of  the  law  on  their  behalf.  Hence  Aaron  is 
said  to  bear  the  judgment  of  the  sons  of  Israel  when  he  ijrosecutes  their  cause  before 
the  Lord  on  the  merits  of  his  of&cial  compliance  with  the  law  in  their  stead.  And  he 
is  said  to  bear  the  judgment  of  the  sons  of  Israel  when  the  Urim  and  Tummim  are 
upon  his  heart,  simply  because  these  words  are  a  significant  name  for  the  set  of 
precious  stones  on  which  their  names  are  engraven.  The  precious  stones,  distinct 
from,  yet  bearing  the  names  of,  the  sons  of  Israel,  appear  to  stand  for  him  who  has 
been  already  described  as  "  the  Stone  of  Israel"  (Gen.  49  :  24),  or  more  precisely  to 
point  out  certain  of  his  leading  qualities,  either  in  their  unity,  as  the  onyx  on  the 
shoulder,  or  in  their  diversity,  as  the  twelve  stones  on  the  breastplate.  These  qualities 
are  expressed  by  the  terms  the  Urim  and  the  Tummim,  the  lights  and  the  rights,  ren- 
dered by  the  Sept.  rriv  6ri7.uaLv  nal  tI'iv  uArfJaav.     Hence  the  importance  of  this  highly 


196  THE    URIM    AKD    TUMMIM. 

significant  emblem  for  determining  tlie  spiritual  meaning  of  tlie  breastplate.  Now 
the  two  leading  qualities  of  a  precious  stone  are  brilliance  and  hardness.  For  the 
latter  some  may  incline  to  substitute  perfection,  purity,  or  freedom  from  any  flaw. 
The  stones  of  the  breastplate,  then,  are  naturally  called  the  lights  in  respect  of  their 
brilliance,  and  the  rights  (perfections  or  purities)  in  respect  of  their  hardness  (or  per- 
fection). These  two  qualities  in  the  stone  represent  the  light  and  the  right  that  are 
in  the  high  priest  for  the  enlightenment  and  the  reconciliation  of  those  who  come  to 
God  by  him.  He  exercises  the  functions  of  teaching  and  sacrificing,  as  the  type  and 
shadow  of  a  greater  than  himself.  The  Lord  above  is  the  great  Illuminator  of  the 
darkened  soul  by  his  quickening  Spirit  (Gen.  1  :  3  ;  8  : 3  ;  12  :  7  ;  48  :  15),  and  at  the  same 
time  the  great  Vindicator  from  the  evil  consequent  on  sin  (Gen.  48  :  16)  by  a  right- 
eousness not  then  fully  manifested  to  the  infant  church.  The  deep  import  of  the 
Urim  and  the  Tummim,  however,  already  dawned  upon  the  early  believer,  when  he 
witnessed  the  high  priest  clothed  with  the  divinely-instituted  breastplate,  making  an 
offering  on  the  altar,  accepted  by  fire,  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  returning  orac- 
ular answers  from  God  to  the  reverent  inquirer  ;  and  when  he  felt  within  himself  the 
new-born  emotions  of  faith  and  repentance  toward  God,  and  of  that  peace  of  con- 
science which  arises  from  the  confidence  that  an  atonement  has  been  made  and  ac- 
cepted on  his  behalf.  It  pleased  the  Lord  to  indicate  the  light  and  right  which  he 
vouchsafed  to  his  people  by  the  precious  stones  on  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest  ; 
but  it  was  not  his  pleasure  that  these  should  reside  in  the  stones  as  a  charm  in  an 
amulet.  Hence,  though  it  was  ordained  that  the  high  priest  should  be  clothed  in  the 
ephod  and  breastplate  when  the  Lord  was  consulted  through  him,  yet  the  divine  re- 
sponse was  not  always  either  withheld  in  the  absence  of  the  breastplate,  or  granted 
when  it  was  present.  The  Lord  had  various  ways  of  communicating  knowledge  to 
the  high  priest,  by  an  audible  voice,  and  by  other  means  which  we  cannot  precisely 
define.  But  we  have  no  ground  whatever  for  the  fancy  that  he  conveyed  verbal 
messages  to  the  high  priest  by  illuminating  or  raising  up  certain  letters  on  the  stones. 
The  four  letters  j-],  jj,  xj,  p,  do  not  occur  on  the  stones.  And  besides,  no  possible 
advantage  can  arise  from  this  gratuitous  conjecture,  as  there  is  no  scarcity  of  possible 
ways  in  which  the  oracular  response  may  have  been  given.  Here  it  becomes  us  to 
observe  the  rational,  intelligible,  and  open  meaning  of  this  most  significant  part  of 
the  sacerdotal  attire.  There  is  nothing  concealed  :  no  idolatrous,  mystical,  or  magical 
object  or  image,  such  as  the  Teraphim  (Spencer,  Legg.  Ritual,  iii.  3,  2),  or  three  an- 
cient stones,  one  for  the  affirmative,  one  for  the  negative,  and  a  third  for  neither 
(Michaelis,  Mos.  E.  i.  52),  or  diamond  dice  (Ziillig)  ;  nothing  like  the  golden  figure  of 
the  Goddess  of  Truth  (Thmei)  worn  by  the  chief  judge  of  Egj^pt  (Diod.  Sic.  i.  48,  75) ; 
but  simply  a  series  of  precious  stones  worn  openly  on  the  breast,  with  the  names  of 
the  twelve  sons  of  Israel  engraven  in  plain  letters  on  them  for  a  memorial.  These 
are  called  Urim  and  Tummim,  lights  and  rights  in  reference  to  the  high  functions  of 
prophetic  revelation  and  priestly  intercession  which  were  exercised  by  the  high  priest 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 

31-35.  The  robe  of  the  ephod.  This  phrase  implies  that  the  robe  belonged  to  the 
ephod  ;  and  hence  the  three  pieces— the  breastplate,  the  ephod,  and  the  robe— were 
regarded  as  one  whole.  The  robe  is  to  be  entirely  of  blue.  It  is  a  close-fitting  garment, 
having  an  aperture  for  the  head,  and  slits,  we  must  understand,  for  the  arms.  It  was 
without  seam,  being  entirely  woven,  even  to  the  hem  or  binding  round  the  neck.  It 
reached  to  the  knee,  being  longer  than  the  ephod,  and  shorter  than  the  checkered  coat. 


EXODUS  xxYiii.  33-39.  197 

33-35.  Upon  the  skirt  of  it  were  to  be  pomegranates  of  bine,  and  purple,  and  crimson, 
alternating  with  bells  of  gold.  Aaron  is  to  wear  this  robe  when  he  ministers  ;  and 
thus  his  sound  shall  be  heard  when  he  goeth  into  the  holy  place,  and  when  he  cometh 
out,  that  he  die  not.  This  robe  is  a  type  of  that  which  preserves  from  death.  Now 
we  know  that  disobedience  is  the  cause  of  death,  and  of  course  obedience  is  the  safe- 
guard against  it  (Gen.  16  :  17).  The  robe,  then,  is  a  symbol  of  that  righteousness 
which  is  the  only  security  of  eternal  life.  Without  this  robe,  then,  the  high  priest 
may  not  appear  in  the  presence  of  God,  on  pain  of  death.  The  sound  manifests  to 
Aaron  and  to  all  concerned  that  the  mail  of  proof  has  been  put  on,  and  the  dread  of 
death  is  removed.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  people  in  general  were  so  near  as  to 
hear  the  tinkling  of  these  bells,  and  therefore  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  actual  hear- 
ing of  the  sound  during  the  ministration  of  the  high  priest  within  the  sanctuary  was 
intended  to  convey  any  intimation  to  them.  This  view  of  the  robe  confirms  the  im- 
port of  the  ephod  and  breastplate  that  are  connected  with  it.  The  conjoint  indication 
of  the  threefold  whole  is,  that  the  high  priest  is  appointed  by  God  to  bear  the  sins  of 
the  people,  to  intercede  on  their  behalf,  to  reveal  to  them  the  truth  of  God,  and  to 
appear  in  a  perfect  righteousness  as  their  representative. 

36-38.  The  crown  of  holiness  (39  :  30).  Before  proceeding  to  the  parts  of  the 
priestly  attire  which  are  common  to  all  priests,  the  significant  crown  of  holiness  is  to 
be  added  to  what  has  gone  before.  This  consists  of  a  plate  of  pure  gold,  attached  to 
the  mitre  by  a  lace  of  blue,  so  that  it  may  rest  on  the  forehead.  On  this  plate  is  en- 
graven the  phrase,  Holiness  to  the  Lord.  By  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  on  the 
precious  stones  Aaron  was  marked  out  as  the  representative  of  the  people.  By  the 
sentence  on  the  diadem  he  is  signalized  as  the  representative  of  God.  In  him  is  typi- 
fied that  intrinsic  holiness  on  account  of  which  alone  the  people  can  be  accepted.  By 
this  holiness  alone  can  he  be  qualified  to  undertake  the  cause  of  the  people,  and  so 
"  bear  the  iniquity  of  their  holy  things,"  that  they  may  be  accepted  before  the  Lord. 
It  is  notable  that  in  the  significance  of  the  ephod  and  the  breastplate  the  bearing  of 
the  people  is  mentioned,  and  in  the  explanation  of  the  crown  the  bearing  of  their 
sins  is  brought  forward.  The  reason  of  this  seems  to  be  that  in  the  former  case  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  the  mediator  are  regarded,  in  the  latter  his  holiness  is  made 
prominent.  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark  that  in  the  ephod  the  priestly  office  is  obvi- 
ous, in  the  breastplate  the  prophetic  comes  into  view,  and  in  the  crown  of  holiness 
the  kingly  makes  its  appearance,  while  at  the  same  time  the  priestly  discloses  itself 
throughout. 

39.  In  one  verse  the  three  pieces  of  dress  that  are  common  to  all  the  priests  are 
summarily  described.  The  coat  of  linen  is  to  be  checkered  or  figured  in  the  loom. 
It  was  worn  above  the  shirt,  provided  with  sleeves,  and  reaching  to  the  feet.  It  was 
probably  an  emblem  of  moral  purity.  The  mitre  was  of  the  same  material,  and  seems 
to  have  been  wrapped  round  the  head  like  a  turban.  On  the  front  of  it  was  attached 
the  golden  plate  described  in  the  previous  verses.  The  bonnet  was  used  by  the  ordinary 
priest  in  place  of  the  mitre.  The  girdle  was  also  of  linen,  embroidered  with  the  needle. 
Josephus  says  that  it  was  four  fingers  wide,  wound  twice  round  the  body,  and  tied  in 
front,  the  ends  hanging  down  to  the  feet.  Maimonides  asserts  that  it  was  three  fingers 
wide  and  thirty-two  cubits  long.     It  forms  a  very  ornamental  part  of  Eastern  dress.  * 

*  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  arrangements  of  dress,  washings,  sprinklings,  incense,  anoint- 
ings, etc.,  form  parts  of  one  typical,  symbolical  whole.  When  the  antitype  came,  they  passed  away  as 
a  whole,  and  any  attempt  to  perpetuate  detached  parts  has  been  attended  with  evil.— J.  H. 


198  THE    COls^SECRATIOK    OF   THE    PRIESTS. 

40-43.  The  dress  of  the  other  priests  consisted  of  coats,  girdles,  and  bonnets.  For 
glory  and  heaidy  (vs.  2).  Garments  of  splendid  appearance  and  pleasing  to  the  eye 
become  the  incomparable  dignity  of  the  priestly  of&ce.  41.  The  chapter  now  closes, 
as  it  began,  with  directions  to  put  these  garments  upon  Aaron  and  his  sons,  to  anoint 
them,  to  fill  their  hand,  and  sanctify  them,  that  they  may  minister  to  the  Lord  in  the 
priests'  office.  The  filling  of  the  hands  is  the  placing  of  the  prescribed  sacrifices  in 
their  hands,  in  the  offering  of  which  they  are  not  only  sanctified  for,  but  instituted 
into,  their  office.  The  Levitical  priests  had  to  offer  for  themselves,  as  they  were  but 
fallen  men,  like  their  fellow-worshippers,  and  therefore  but  types  and  shadows  of  a 
true  and  perfect  priest  to  come.  42.  The  breeches  are  mentioned  apart  because  they 
do  not  belong  to  the  official  dress  of  the  priest,  but  are  prescribed  for  the  sake  of  de- 
cency. The  organs  of  excretion  are  called  the  flesh  of  nakedness,  because  their  ex- 
posure is  the  exposure  of  a  defilement  connected  with  decay  and  death,  and  indicative 
of  that  moral  defilement  which  brought  death  into  the  world  of  mankind.  These 
parts  are  to  be  specially  concealed  in  those  who  are  to  be  types  of  moral  purity  when 
thej^  approach  the  tent  of  meeting  or  the  altar.  The  "  statute  for  ever"  may  be  re- 
garded as  applying  to  the  whole  of  the  regulations  concerning  dress. 

Tradition  records  that  the  old  garments  of  the  priests  were  unravelled  and  made 
into  wicks  for  the  lamps  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

CHAP.    XXIX. THE    CONSECRATION    OF    THE    PRIESTS. 

;      24.  nDl^n  ^  wave-offering  ;  r.  wave  to  and  fro. 
27.   HDinri  ^  lieave-offering  ;  r.  be  high. 

XXIX.  1.  And  this  is  the  thing  that  thou  shalt  do  unto  them  to  hallow  them  to 
act  as  priests  unto  me  :  'take  one  young  bullock  and  two  rams  without  blemish.  2. 
And  unleavened  bread,  and  unleavened  cakes  tempered  with  oil,  and  unleavened 
wafers  anointed  with  oil  ;  of  wheaten  flour  shalt  thou  make  them.  3.  And  thou  shalt 
put  them  into  one  basket,  and  bring  them  in  the  basket,  with  the  bullock  and  the  two 
rams.  4.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meet- 
ing ;  and  shall  wash  them  with  water.  5.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  garments,  and 
clothe  Aaron  with  the  coat  and  the  robe  of  the  ephod  and  the  ephod  and  the  breast- 
plate ;  and  gird  him  with  the  belt  of  the  ephod.  6.  And  thou  shalt  set  the  mitre 
upon  his  head,  and  put  the  holy  crown  upon  the  mitre.  7.  And  thou  shalt  take  the 
anointing  oil  and  pour  it  upon  his  head  and  anoint  him.  8.  And  his  sons  thou  shalt 
bring,  and  clothe  them  with  coats.  9.  And  thou  shalt  gird  them  with  girdles,  Aaron 
and  his  sons,  and  bind  on  them  bonnets  :  and  the  priestly  office  shall  be  theirs  for  a 
perpetual  statute  :  and  thou  shalt  fill  the  hand  of  Aaron  and  the  hand  of  his  sons. 
10.  And  thou  shalt  bring  the  bullock  before  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  and  Aaron  and  his 
sons  shall  put  their  hands  uj^on  the  head  of  the  bullock.  11,  And  thou  shalt  kill  the 
bullock  before  the  Lord,  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  12.  And  thou  shalt  take 
of  the  blood  of  the  bullock  and  put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  with  thy  finger,  and 
pour  all  the  blood  at  the  bottom  of  the  altar.  13.  And  thou  shalt  take  all  the  fat  that 
covereth  the  inwards,  and  the  caul  above  the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat 
that  is  upon  them,  and  burn  them  upon  the  altar.  14.  And  the  flesh  of  the  bullock, 
and  his  skin  and  his  dung,  shalt  thou  burn  with  fire  without  the  camp  :  it  is  a  sin- 
offering.  15.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  one  ram  ;  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  lay 
their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  ram.  16.  And  thou  shalt  slay  the  ram,  and  thou 
shalt  take  his  blood  and  sprinkle  upon  the  altar  round  about.  17.  And  thou  shalt 
cut  the  ram  in  pieces,  and  wash  his  inwai'ds  and  his  legs,  and  put  them  on  his  pieces 
and  on  his  head.  18.  And  thou  shalt  burn  the  whole  ram  on  the  altar  :  it  is  a  burnt- 
offering  unto  the  Lord'  a  sweet  savor,  an  offering  by  fire  unto  the  Loed.  19.  And 
thou  shalt  take  the  other  ram  ;  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  lay  their  hands  upon  the 


EXODUS  XXIX.  1-28.  199 

head  of  the  ram.  20.  And  thon  shalt  kill  the  ram  and  take  of  his  blood,  and  put  it 
upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  Aaron,  and  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  his  sons, 
and  upon  the  thumb  of  their  right  hand,  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  their  right  foot  ; 
and  thou  shalt  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the  altar  round  about.  21.  And  thou  shalt 
take  of  the  blood  that  is  upon  the  altar,  and  of  the  anointing  oil,  and  sprinkle  it  upon 
Aaron  and  upon  his  garments,  and  upon  his  sons  and  upon  his  sons'  garments  with 
him  ;  and  he  shall  be  hallowed  and  his  garments,  and  his  sons  and  his  sons  garments 
with  him.  22.  And  thou  shalt  take  of  the  ram  the  fat  and  the  rump,  and  the  fat  that 
covereth  the  inwards,  and  the  caul  of  the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that 
is  upon  them,  and  the  right  shoulder  ;  for  it  is  the  ram  of  consecration.  23.  And 
one  loaf  of  bread  and  one  cake  of  oiled  bread  and  one  wafer,  out  of  the  basket  of 
unleavened  bread  that  is  before  the  Loed,  24.  And  thou  shalt  put  all  in  the  hands 
of  Aaron  and  in  the  hands  of  his  sons  ;  and  thou  shalt  wave  them  for  a  wave-olfering 
before  the  Loed,  25.  And  thou  shalt  take  them  out  of  their  hands,  and  burn  them 
upon  the  altar  for  a  burnt-offering,  for  a  sweet  savor  before  the  Loed  :  it  is  an  offer- 
ing by  fire  unto  the  Loed.  26.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  breast  of  the  ram  of  consecra- 
tion which  is  Aaron's  and  wave  it  for  a  wave-offering  before  the  Loed  :  and  it  shall 
be  thy  part.  27.  And  thou  shalt  hallow  the  breast  of  the  wave-offering,  and  the 
shoulder  of  the  heave-offering,  which  is  waved  and  which  is  heaved  up,  of  the  ram  of 
consecration,  of  that  which  is  to  Aaron  and  to  his  sons.  28.  And  it  shall  be  Aaron's 
and  his  sons'  by  statute  for  ever  from  the  sons  of  Israel  ;  for  it  is  a  heave-offering  : 
and  a  heave-offering  shall  it  be  from  the  sons  of  Israel  of  the  sacrifices  of  their  peace- 
offerings,  their  heave-offering  unto  the  Loed. 

29.  And  the  holy  ^arments  of  Aaron  shall  be  for  his  sons  after  him,  to  anoint  them 
therein  and  to  fill  their  hands  in  them.  30.  Seven  days  shall  the  priest  after  him  of 
his  sons  put  them  on,  when  he  cometh  into  the  tent  of  meeting  to  minister  in  the 
sanctuary.  31.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  ram  of  consecration,  and  seethe  his  flesh  in  a 
holy  place.  32.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  the  ram.  and  the  bread 
that  is  in  the  basket,  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  33.  And  they  shall  eat  those 
things  wherewith  atonement  was  made,  to  fill  their  hands  and  hallow  them  :  and  a 
stranger  shall  not  eat  thereof,  for  thej^  are  holy.  34.  And  if  there  remain  any  of  the 
flesh  of  consecration  and  of  the  bread  until  the  morning,  then  thou  shalt  burn  the  re- 
mainder with  fire  :  it  shall  not  be  eaten,  for  it  is  holy.  35.  And  thus  shalt  thou  do 
unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee  :  seven  days 
shalt  thou  fill  their  hand.  36.  And  thou  shalt  offer  every  day  a  bullock  of  sin-offering 
for  atonement  :  and  thou  shalt  purge  the  altar,  when  thou  makest  atonement  upon  it, 
and  thou  shalt  anoint  it  to  hallow  it.  37.  Seven  days  shalt  thou  make  atonement 
upon  the  altar,  and  hallow  ii" :  and  the  altar  shall  be  most  holy;  whatsoever  toucheth 
the  altar  shall  be  holy.  §  71. 

38.  And  this  is  that  which  thou  shalt  offer  upon  the  altar  ;  two  lambs  of  the  first 
year  day  by  day  continually.  39.  The  one  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  in  the  morning  and 
the  other  lamb  thoTi  shalt  offer  between  the  evenings.  40.  And  a  tenth  deal  of  flour 
mingled  with  the  fourth  of  a  hin  of  beaten  oil,  and  for  a  drink-offering  the  fourth  of 
a  hin  of  wine  for  the  one  lamb.  41.  And  the  other  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  between  the 
evenings,  and  shalt  do  thereto  according  to  the  meat-offering  of  the  morning  and  ac- 
cording to  the  drink-offering  thereof,  for  a  sweet  savor,  an  offering  by  fire  unto  the 
Loed.  42.  A  continual  burnt-offering  throughout  your  generations  at  the  door  of  the 
tent  of  meeting  before  the  Loed,  where  I  will  meet  you  to  speak  there  unto  thee.  43. 
And  there  I  will  meet  with  the  sons  of  Israel  ;  and  it  shall  be  hallowed  by  my  glory. 
44.  And  I  will  hallow  the  tent  of  meeting  and  the  altar  :  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  will 
I  hallow  to  act  as  priests  to  me.  45.  And  I  will  dwell  among  the  sons  of  Israel  and 
will  be  their  God.  46.  And  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Loed  their  God,  that 
brought  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  that  I  might  dwell  among  them  :  I 
am  the  Loed  their  God.  "fi  44. 

Having  given  specific  directions  concerning  the  official  attire  of  the  priests,  the 
sacred  writer  proceeds  to  settle  the  mode  of  their  consecration  or  solemn  induction 
into  office. 

1-28.  The    form    of    consecration.     In    this    solemn    process    Moses,  hj    special 


200  THE    C0KSECKAT10:N"    of   the    PllIESTS. 

appointment  of  heaven,  is  to  act  the  part  of  priest  and  consecrator,  and  so 
lay  the  foundation  of  the  Aaronic  priesthood.  To  consecrate  the  priests  is  to 
hallow  ihem  to  act  as  priests  unto  the  Lord.  It  consists  of  three  chief  parts  :  (1) 
anointing  them  •  (2)  making  atonement  for  them  by  sacrifice  ;  (3)  causing  them  to 
perform  a  part  of  tlieir  office,  in  earnest  and  in  token  of  the  performance  of  the  whole 
thenceforward  with  full  authority.  All  this  is  preceded  by  three  preliminary  arrange- 
ments. 1-3.  First,  the  bringing  forward  of  the  articles  for  sacrifice.  The  offering 
consists  in  its  fullest  form  of  three  parts — the  animal  or  proper  sacrifice,  in  which  the 
blood  that  makes  atonement  was  shed,  the  meat-offering,  and  the  drink-offering.  In 
these  two  the  thanksgiving  and  self-devotion  of  the  offerer  are  jointly  expressed  ;  and 
hence  the  meat-offering  only  is  sometimes  employed,  as  in  the  present  instance,  to 
denote  this  state  of  mind.  The  three  animals  for  sacrifice  are  a  young  bullock  and 
two  rams.  Without  blemish.  This  outward  freedom  from  fault  is  symbolic  of  that 
intrinsic  integrity  or  perfection  which  must  belong  to  the  real  sacrifice  for  sin.  Three 
kinds  of  bread  made  of  wheaten  flour  are  employed  for  the  meat-offering — bread  baked 
in  the  usual  manner  ;  cakes  mingled  with  oil,  a  kind  of  short  bread,  perforated,  as  its 
name  indicates  ;  and  wafers  \^ith  oil  spread  upon  them.  These  indicate  the  fulness 
and  variety  of  the  feelings  and  duties  acknowledged.  They  are  all  unleavened,  in  token 
of  the  sincerity  of  the  worshipper.  They  are  put  into  one  basket  as  being  one  offer- 
ing, and  are  brought  forward  with  the  bullock  and  the  rams. 

The  second  preliminary  is  the  bringing  forward  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  the  parties 
to  be  set  apart  for  office.  Unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  The  tent  has  been  already 
described  (26  :  7-15).  It  was  stretched  over  the  tabernacle.  It  is  called  the  tent  of 
meeting,  because  it  is  the  appointed  place  of  meeting  with  God  on  the  part  of  the 
high  priest,  and  also  on  that  of  every  stated  assembly  of  the  people  on  solemn  occa- 
sions (vs.  42,  43  ;  see  on  12  :  3).  At  the  door  of  the  tent  means  in  a  circle,  the  circum- 
ference of  which  touches  the  door,  be  the  same  more  or  less,  according  to  the  number 
constituting  the  meeting.  It  is  obvious  that  a  door  ten  cubits  wide  and  a  gate  to  the 
court  of  twenty  cubits  will  allow  a  wide  scope  for  the  phrase  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of 
meeting.  And  shalt  wash  them  loith  water.  At  the  time  when  this  direction  would  be 
carried  into  execution  the  laver  (30  :  17-21)  would  have  been  constructed,  and  placed 
between  the  altar  and  the  door  of  the  tent  (40  :  11,  12),  say  twenty-five  feet  from  each. 
Hence  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  when  they  were 
twenty-five  feet  from  the  entrance.  The  washing  with  water  is  one  of  the  figures  for 
personal  cleansing  or  sanctification,  while  the  sprinkling  with  blood  shed  at  the  altar 
was  typical  of  legal  cleansing  or  jvistification. 

5,  6.  The  investiture  is  the  third  preliminary.  The  coat  is  first  put  on  over  the 
shirt,  then  the  robe,  then  the  ephod  and  breastplate,  with  the- belt  of  the  ephod,  and 
lastly  the  mitre,  with  the  crown  of  holiness,  on  the  head.  "We  have  already  seen  the 
typical  significance  of  the  articles  of  dress.  Aaron  being  now  present  in  his  official 
attire,  and  accompanied  with  the  offerings,  the  consecration  or  solemn  ordination  is 
to  take  place. 

7.  The  first  part  of  the  proper  ordination  is  the  anointing.  The  composition  of  the 
anointing  oil  is  afterward  prescribed  (30  :  22-25).  The  mode  of  application  is  pouring 
upon  the  head.  He  thus  becomes  a  mashiach,  a  representative  of  the  great  Messiah. 
The  anointing  denotes  qualification  for  office  by  the  enlightening  and  sanctifying 
operation  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

8,  9.  The  sons  of  Aaron  are  now  brought  forward.     Their  investiture  is  summed  up 


EXODL'S  XXIX.    8-25.  201 

in  the  direction  to  clothe  them  with  coats.  And  then  girdles  are  put  on  Aaron  and 
his  sons.  It  appears  from  this  that  the  girdle  was  put  over  the  belt  of  the  ephod. 
The  bonnets  are  bound  on  their  heads,  and  must  therefore  be  furnished  with  ties  for 
this  purpose.  The  priestly  office  shall  he  theirs  for  a  perpetual  statute.  The  priesthood,  in 
its  virtue  and  effect,  is  absolutely  perpetual.  In  its  present  form,  it  lasts  as  long  as 
the  Levitical  economy.  And  thou  shaltfill  the  hand.  After  the  qualification  comes  nat- 
urally the  institution,  described  as  the  filling  of  the  hands  with  the  instruments  of 
office,  that  they  may  be  used  in  some  initial  service.  But  in  proceeding  to  this  we 
meet  with  the  propitiation  or  atoning  sacrifice,  by  which  they  become  recti  in  curia, 
right  in  point  of  law. 

10-28.  The  second  part  is  the  removal  of  legal  disqualification  by  a  series  of  sacri- 
fices. The  first  is  the  sin-offering  (vs.  10-14).  Here  is  the  direct  recognition  of  sin 
in  the  intended  officials,  and  therefore  of  the  need  of  an  atonement.  The  bullock  is 
to  be  brought  before  the  tent  of  meeting.  Aaron  and  his  sons  are  to  put  their  hands 
on  its  head,  in  token  that  their  sins  are  laid  on  it.  This  symbolic  action  takes  place 
in  all  the  offerings  (vs.  15,  19).  Moses  is  to  slay  the  animal  in  the  presence  of  the 
Lord.  He  is  to  sprinkle  of  the  blood  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar,  and  pour  the  rest  at 
its  base.  It  is  the  blood,  which  is  the  life,  that  makes  atonement.  All  the  fat  cover- 
ing the  inwards,  the  caul  or  midriff,  the  kidneys  and  their  fat,  are  to  be  burnt  upon 
the  altar.  The  fat  is  the  best,  and  this  is  to  be  consumed  on  the  altar,  as  a  satisfac- 
tion to  justice  beyond  the  mere  privation  of  life.  The  remainder  of  the  sin-offering 
is  to  be  carried  without  the  camp,  as  an  unclean  thing,  and  there  consumed  with  fire, 
to  indicate  that  that  in  which  sin  resides  must  be  given  over  to  destruction.  Such  is 
the  awful  yet  hopeful  significance  of  the  sin-offering. 

15-18.  Next  is  the  burnt-offering.  The  victim  is  in  this  case  wholly  burnt  on  the 
altar,  to  denote  that  a  full  propitiation  is  to  be  made  for  guilt.  The  blood  of  the  one 
ram  is  to  be  sprinkled  on  the  altar  round  about.  Its  body  is  then  to  be  cut  in  pieces, 
perhaps  into  quarters,  the  inwards  and  legs  to  be  washed,  and  laid  upon  the  pieces 
and  the  head  on  the  altar.  The  burnt-offering  is  as  old  as  Noah's  day  (Gen.  8  :  20). 
The  offering  of  the  whole  victim  on  the  altar  gives  prominence  to  the  idea  of  a  com- 
plete substitution  of  one  for  another.  It  is  a  sweet  savor,  because  it  scents  the  air 
with  the  flavor  of  savory  meat,  and  thereby  vividly  expresses  how  pleasing  to  the 
Almighty  is  the  satisfaction  to  justice  which  opens  the  way  to  remission  and  restora- 
tion. It  is  an  offering  by  fire,  because  this  brings  to  view  the  utter  destruction  that 
awaits  everything  tainted  with  sin. 

19-28.  The  third  is  the  ram  of  consecration.  Touching  the  body  with  the  blood 
figures  the  application  of  that  which  expiates  to  the  person  purged  from  guilt.  The 
ear  is  the  organ  of  hearing,  and  therefore  understanding  and  willing.  The  hands  and 
the  feet  are  the  two  great  organs  of  nearer  and  more  distant  outward  act.  All  these 
channels  of  true  obedience  needed  propitiation.  The  sprinkling  of  the  blood  upon 
the  altar  noted  to  whom  the  expiation  was  made.  21.  This  was  followed  by  a  remark- 
able sprinkling  of  the  persons  and  garments  of  the  priests  with  both  the  blood  upon 
the  altar  and  the  anointing  oil,  to  symbolize  at  the  same  time  the  outward  and  legal 
and  the  inward  and  moral  purification  which  was  essential  to  the  priestly  office. 

22-25.  The  filling  of  the  hands  here  begins.  This  simple  but  significant  act  is  the 
third  and  crowning  part  of  the  induction  of  the  priests  into  office.  The  fat  and  fatty 
parts  of  the  ram,  with  one  of  each  kind  of  cakes  in  the  basket,  are  taken  by  Moses. 
The  rump.     This  is  the  tail  of  the  sheep,  which  in  the  broad-tailed  species   often 


202  THE   COisSECKATIOK    OF   THE   PEIESTS. 

weighed  twenty  pounds,  consisting  chiefly  of  fat,  and  was  so  valuable  that  a  little  cart 
was  sometimes  placed  under  it  to  preserve  the  fat,  and  relieve  the  animal.  24,  All 
these  are  to  be  put  in  the  hands  of  Aaron  and  his  sons.  From  a  comparison  of  the 
present  passage  with  others  in  the  trial  of  jealousy  and  the  institute  of  the  Nazarite 
(Num.  5  :  18  ;  6  :  19),  it  ajapears  that  to  put  an  ofEering  into  the  hands  of  the  offerer 
is  to  cause  him  thereby  to  take  a  part  in  the  ofEering  and  in  all  its  consequences. 
The  significance  of  this  taking  in  hand  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  offering  in  ques- 
tion. Here  it  is  the  ram  filling  the  hand  (vs.  22).  Aaron  and  his  sons,  then,  here 
take  the  first  step  in  offering,  and  are  thereby  initiated  in  the  priestly  office.  But 
Moses  is  further  directed  to  wave  them  for  a  wave-offering,  while  they  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  priests.  This  seems  to  be  accomplished  bj^  Moses  placing  his  hands  beneath 
those  of  the  priests,  and  conveying  to  them  a  motion  to  and  fro.  Waving  is  explained 
by  Maimonides  and  Kashi  to  be  a  going  and  coming  ;  that  is,  a  going  toward  the  altar 
in  token  of  dedication  to  the  Lord,  and  a  coming  again  toward  the  priest  in  token  of 
transference  to  the  priest  as  his  share..  This,  however,  does  not  suit  the  present  case, 
in  which  the  things  waved  are  afterward  consumed  on  the  altar.  Later  rabbins  de- 
scribe it  as  a  movement  toward  the  four  quarters  of  heaven,  to  denote  a  consecration 
to  the  omnipresent  God.  But  the  horizontal  movement  probably  indicates  equality 
of  rank,  while  heaving,  a  vertical  movement,  points  to  superiority  and  inferiority  of 
rank.  On  this  supposition,  while  either  movement  may  denote  an  active  part  in  the 
sacred  service,  waving  may  shadow  forth  the  communion  of  the  worshippers  with  one 
another,  and  heaving  the  communion  of  the  worshipper  with  the  Being  worshipped. 
In  the  present  case,  the  waving  will  indicate  the  communion  of  Aaron  and  his  sons 
with  Moses  in  the  act  of  sacrifice.  After  the  waving  Moses  is  to  take  the  things  waved 
out  of  their  hands  and  burn  them  upon  the  altar.  As  the  ram  is  here  parenthetically 
called  "  the  ram  of  filling"  of  the  hand,  it  is  manifest  that  this  is  the  first  act  of  that 
official  initiation  which  is  continued  through  the  seven  days  of  consecration  (vs.  35). 

26-28.  The  part  of  the  sacrifice  usually  assigned  to  the  priest.  The  first  victim 
offered  on  this  occasion  is  a  sin-offering,  the  second  a  burnt-offering.  After  sin  has 
been  expiated,  and  complete  satisfaction  made,  reconciliation  and  communion  with 
God  naturally  follow.  Hence  the  third  victim,  the  ram  of  consecration,  is  of  the  nature 
of  a  peace-offering,  in  which  the  worshipper,  still  acknowledging  his  need  of  atone- 
ment, yet  advances  to  the  end  of  all  propitiation— peace  with  God,  communion  with 
him,  and  all  the  joy  of  salvation.  Hence  the  peace-offering  included  a  feast  upon  a 
sacrifice,  shadowing  forth  the  communion  of  the  worshippers  with  God.  The  priests 
were  partakers  in  this  communion  ;  and  accordingly  the  wave-breast  was  assigned  to 
them,  and  the  heave-shoulder  to  him  who  officiated  on  the  occasion  (Lev.  7  :  32-34). 
Here,  then,  the  breast  of  the  ram  of  consecration  is  assigned  to  Moses,  who  for  the 
present  sums  up  the  whole  priesthood  in  himself.  He  is  to  wave  it  for  a  wave-offer- 
ing, in  token  of  his  communion  with  the  offerers  in  the  blessings  of  peace  and  privi- 
lege. 27.  He  is  to  hallow,  or  set  apart  to  a  sacred  use,  the  shoulder  of  the  heave-offer- 
ing. The  heave-shoulder  was  to  be  the  share  of  him  who  transacted  the  deed  of 
atonement  and  fellowship  with  God,  in  offering  up  the  fat  of  the  peace-offering  unto 
the  Lord  (Lev,  7  :  33).  It  was  taken  or  heaved  up  in  token  of  its  being  offered  to  God, 
by  whom  it  is  assigned  to  his  representative  among  men.  28.  This  is  the  heave-offer- 
ing out  of  the  peace-offerings  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  by  a  perpetual  statute  (25  :  2). 

29-37.  Additional  directions  concerning  the  ordination  of  the  high  priest.  The  suc- 
cessor of  Aaron  shall  put  on  the  official  dress  of  his  father  at  his  consecration,  and  wear 


EXODUS  XXX.  203 

it  during  the  seven  days  of  institution.  31-34.  The  solemn  feast  of  the  consecration. 
The  flesh  of  the  ram  of  consecration  is  to  he  seethed  in  a  holy  place,  namely,  in  some  part 
of  the  court  of  the  tabernacle.  Aaron  and  his  sons  are  then  to  eat  it,  with  the  bread  in 
the  basket,  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  These  are  the  remainder  of  the  things 
wherewith  atonement  was  made  to  Jill  their  hands,  and  set  them  apart  for  their  sacred  ser- 
vice. They  are  therefore  holy,  and  to  be  used  only  by  the  priests,  who  are  holy.  For 
the  same  reason,  any  part  that  remains  till  the  morning  is  to  be  consumed  with  fire. 
35-37.  The  filling  of  their  hand  is  to  continue  seven  days.  Seven  is  the  number  of 
sacredness,  and  is  therefore  connected  with  this  most  holy  transaction.  Nothing  can 
transcend  the  moment  of  that  which  typifies  the  atonement  between  erring  man  and 
his  Maker.  Every  day  a  bullock  of  sin-offering  for  atonement  is  to  ascend  the  altar,  which 
is  to  be  itself  purged  thereby.  It  is  also  to  be  anointed,  and  thus  completely  hal- 
lowed. Whatsoever  toucheth  the  altar  shall  be  holy.  This  is  capable  of  two  meanings. 
He  that  is  to  toach  the  altar  must  be  holy.  Or  that  which  in  the  way  of  offering 
toucheth  the  altar,  which  is  not  only  the  medium  of  propitiation,  hut  is  now  made 
most  holy,  becomes  thereby  holy,  as  the  altar  sanctifies  the  gift  (Matt.  23  :  19).  Both 
are  true  ;  but  the  latter  seems  most  in  keeping  with  the  context  here  and  in  30  :  29. 

38-46.  The  continual  burnt-offering,  and  the  resulting  communion  of  God  with  his 
people.  When  the  order  of  the  priesthood  has  been  instituted  the  daily  sacrifice  can 
be  celebrated.  Two  lamhs  of  the  first  year,  the  one  in  the  morning,  the  other  between 
the  evenings  (12  :  6).  40,  41.  The  meat-offering  is  to  be  the  tenth  of  an  ephah  of  flour 
mingled  with  the  fourth  of  a  hin  of  beaten  oil.  The  omer,  or  tenth  of  the  ephah,  was 
above  three  pints,  or  the  daily  allowance  of  one  person.  A  handful  of  the  flour  and 
oil  was  offered  on  the  altar,  and  the  remainder  fell  to  the  priest  (Lev.  2  :  2,  3).  The 
fourth  of  a  hin,  about  one  pint  (12  :  36).  The  drink-offering  is  to  be  the  fourth  of  a 
hin  of  wine.  It  was  poured  out  about  the  altar  in  the  holy  place  (Num.  28  : 7  ; 
Joseph.  Antiq.  iii.  9,  4). 

42-46.  The  continual  burnt-offering  is  to  be  presented  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of 
meeting.  The  altar  was  probably  thirty-three  and  a  third  cubits,  or  about  fifty  feet 
from  the  door.  The  tent  of  meeting  is  so  caUed,  because  there  the  Lord  will  meet 
with  Moses  to  speak  with  him.  After  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation  comes  the  recon- 
ciliation and  communion  with  God,  which  is  here  simply  and  beautifully  expressed  by 
his  meeting  and  conversing  with  Moses,  the  representative  of  the  people.  43.  The 
intercourse  is  extended  to  the  sons  of  Israel,  of  course  through  the  high  priest.  The 
jDlace  of  meeting  is  to  be  hallowed  by  the  glory  of  the  divine  presence  (vs.  44).  The 
tent  of  meeting,  the  altar,  and  the  priests,  are  to  partake  alike  of  this  sacred  character. 
45,  46.  God  will  dwell  among  t^em  and  be  their  God,  and  by  all  their  past  experience 
shall  the  people  know  that  he  is  the  Lord  their  God,  the  self-existent  Author  of  all 
being,  who  is  Eternal  and  Almighty,  and  who  has  deigned  to  have  mercy  on  them,  and 
adopt  them  to  be  his  people  ;  and  in  pursuance  of  this  gracious  determination  has 
brought  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  that  he  might  dwell  among  them.  To  this 
glad  announcement  of  his  grace,  he  sets  the  seal  of  promise  and  assurance  by  adding, 
I  am  the  Lord  their  God.  These  specifications  of  the  tabernacle  service  are  no  mere  dry 
detail,  but  a  record  of  heavenly  life  and  promise. 

CHAP.    XXX. — THE   REMAINING   ARTICLES   FOR   THE   TABERNACLE. 

23.  -]V3  Myrrh,  an  aromatic  plant  of  Arabia,  -^ni  "^^2  flowing  or  liquid  myrrh  ; 
r.  flow,  yiy^yi  klwu/lujuov,  Cinnamon  is  of  the  best  quality  in  Ceylon  ;  r.  per- 
haps njp  'f^ed.     fijp  Ka'Xajio<i  grows  in  Arabia  and  India. 


204  REMAIKIKG    ARTICLES    TOR   THE    TABERISTACLE. 

24.  (-|-|p  of  the  same  class  with  nj7''Kp  c<^ssia;  r.  split. 

34.  r\'^2  (^'"'K-'^n,  a  gum  spontaneously  distilling  from  the  myrrh  plant.  Others 
take  it  to  be  storax,  a  plant  growing  in  Syria,  Arabia,  and  other  countries, 
which  yields  a  fragrant  gum  ;  r.  drop.  H/Til^  bw^^  onycha,  the  crustaceous  cov- 
ering of  the  shells  of  the  trochus  and  conus  ;  r.  scrape  off.  r\yil1>r\  X^'^I^^^V,  the 
gum  of  the  stagonitis  growing  in  Arabia,  Syria,  and  Abyssinia  ;  r.  fat  or  milTcy. 
nJ2^  A'/3at^o5,  frankincense,  the  native  place  of  which  is  Arabia  Felix  ;  r.  le 
white. 

XXX.  1.  And  thou  shalt  make  an  altar  to  burn  incense  upon  ;  of  shittah  wood 
shalt  thou  make  it.  2.  A  cubit  shall  be  the  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  the  breadth 
.thereof  :  square  shall  it  be  ;  and  two  cubits  shall  be  the  height  thereof  :  its  horns 
shall  be  of  the  same.  3,  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold,  its  top,  and  its 
sides  round  about,  and  its  horns  :  and  thou  shalt  make  for  it  a  crown  of  gold  around 
about.  4.  And  two  golden  rings  shalt  thou  make  for  it  under  the  crown  of  it  on  the 
two  flanks  thereof  ;  on  the  two  sides  of  it  shalt  thou  make  them  :  and  they  shall  be 
places  for  the  staves  to  bear  it  withal.  5.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  staves  of  shittah 
wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold.  6.  And  thou  shalt  set  it  before  the  vail  that  is  by 
the  ark  of  the  testimony,  before  the  mercy-seat  that  is  over  the  testimony,  where  I 
will  meet  with  thee.  7.  And  Aaron  shall  burn  thereon  incense  of  spices  :  every  morn- 
ing, when  he  dresseth  the  lamps,  shall  he  burn  it.  8.  And  when  Aaron  setteth  up 
the  lamps  between  the  evenings,  he  shall  burn  it  :  a  perpetual  incense  before  the  Lord 
throughout  your  generations.  9.  Ye  shall  burn  upon  it  no  strange  incense,  nor  burnt- 
offering,  nor  meat-offering  ;  neither  shall  ye  pour  drink-offering  thereon.  10.  And 
Aaron  shall  make  an  atonement  upon  the  horns  of  it  once  in  a  year  ;  with  the  blood 
of  the  sin-offering  of  atonement  once  in  the  year  shall  he  make  atonement  upon  it 
throughout  your  generations  :  it  is  most  holy  unto  the  Lord.  21.  •[[•[[  "^  45. 

11.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  12.  When  thou  takest  the  sum  of  the 
sons  of  Israel  who  are  numbered,  then  shall  they  give  each  a  ransom  for  his  soul  unto 
the  Lord,  when  they  are  numbered  ;  and  there  shall  be  no  plague  among  them  when 
they  are  numbered.  13.  This  they  shall  give,  every  one  that  passeth  among  the  num- 
bered, half  a  shekel  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  ;  the  shekel  is  twenty  gerahs  ; 
half  a  shekel  is  the  offering  unto  the  Lord.  14,  Every  one  that  passeth  among  the 
numbered,  from  twenty  years  old  and  above,  shall  give  the  offering  unto  the  Lord. 
15.  The  rich  shall  not  give  more  and  the  poor  shall  not  give  less  than  half  a  shekel, 
when  they  give  the  offering  unto  the  Lord  to  make  atonement  for  their  souls.  16. 
And  thou  shalt  take  the  money  of  atonement  from  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  shalt  give  it 
for  the  service  of  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  and  it  shall  be  a  memorial  for  the  sons  of 
Israel  before  the  Lord  to  make  atonement  for  your  souls.  ^  46. 

17.  And  the  Lord  spake  nnto  Moses,  saying,  18.  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  laver  of 
brass,  and  its  stand  of  brass,  to  wash  withal  :  and  thou  shalt  set  it  between  the  tent 
of  meeting  and  the  altar  ;  and  thou  shalt  put  water  therein.  19.  And  Aaron  and  his 
sons  shall  wash  thereout  their  hands  and  their  feet.  20.  When  they  go  into  the  tent 
of  meeting,  they  shall  wash  with  water,  and  shall  not  die  :  or  when  they  come  near 
to  the  altar  to  minister,  to  burn  an  offering  by  fire  unto  the  Lord.  21.  So  they  shall 
wash  their  hands  and  their  feet,  and  not  die  :  and  it  shall  be  to  them  a  statute  for 
ever,  to  him  and  to  his  seed  throughout  their  generations.  1[  47. 

22.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  23.  And  thou  take  for  thee  principal 
spices,  of  pure  myrrh  five  hundred  shekels,  and  of  sweet  cinnamon  half  so  much,  two 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  of  sweet  calamus  two  hundred  and  fiftj^,  24.  And  of  cassia 
five  hundred,  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  olive  oil  a  hin.  25.  And  thou 
shalt  make  it  an  oil  of  holy  ointment,  a  perfume  compounded  after  the  art  of  the 
perfumer  :  it  shall  be  a  holy  anointing  oil.  26.  And  thou  shalt  anoint  with  it  the 
tent  of  meeting  and  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  27.  And  the  table  and  all  its  vessels, 
and  the  candlestick  and  its  vessels,  and  the  altar  of  incense,  28.  And  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering  and  all  its  vessels,  and  the  laver  and  its  base.  29.  And  thou  shalt  hal- 
low them,  and  they  shall  be  most  holy  :  whatsoever  toucheth  them  shall  be  holy.     30. 


EXODUS  XXX.    1-10.  205 

And  Aaron  and  liis  sons  tlaou  shalt  anoint,  and  hallow  them  to  act  as  j)riests  unto 
me.  31.  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  This  shall  be  a  holy- 
anointing  oil  unto  me  throughout  your  generations.  32.  Upon  man's  flesh  shall  it 
not  be  poured  ;  nor  shall  ye  make  any  like  it  in  its  proportion  :  holy  is  it,  holy  shall 
it  be  unto  you.  33.  Whosoever  compoundeth  any  like  it,  or  whosoever  putteth  of  it 
upon  a  stranger,  shall  even  be  cut  oft"  from  his  people.  §  72. 

34.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Take  unto  thee  spices,  stacte,  and  onycha,  and 
galbanum  ;  spices  with  pure  frankincense  :  part  by  part  shall  there  be.  35.  And  thou 
shalt  make  it  an  incense,  a  perfume,  the  work  of  the  perfumer,  salted,  pure,  and  holy. 

36.  And  thou  shalt  beat  of  it  fine,  and  put  of  it  before  the  testimony  in  the  tent  of 
meeting  where  1  will  meet  with  thee  :  it  shall  be  unto  you  most  holy.  37.  And  the 
incense  which  thou  shalt  make  in  its  joroportion  ye  shall  not  make  for  yourselves  ;  it 
shall  be  for  you  holy  unto  the  Lord.  38.  Whosoever  shall  make  like  unto  it  to  smell 
thereto  shall  even  be  cut  off  from  his  people. 

We  have  already  hinted  at  the  order  observed  in  this  specification  of  the  tabernacle 
and  its  appurtenances.  The  author  of  this  remarkable  document  proceeds  from  God 
to  man  ;  from  the  centre,  the  ark  of  the  testimony  and  the  holy  of  holies,  to  the  cir- 
cumference, the  altar  of  sacrifice  and  the  court  (25  :  27).  He  next  determines  the 
official  attire,  mode  of  consecration,  and  stated  functions  of  the  priests  (28,  29).  And 
then  in  a  closing  chapter  he  returns  with  the  high  priest  from  man  to  God,  from  the 
altar  of  sacrifice  to  the  altar  of  incense,  adding  certain  things  of  essential  moment 
that  occur  on  this  blessed  return.  The  starting-point  is  the  altar  of  propitiation, 
then  the  laver  of  purification,  and  lastly  the  altar  of  praise,  including  confession, 
adoration,  prayer,  and  thanksgiving.  Parallel  with  the  two  latter  are  the  ointment  of 
sanctification,  with  which  all  things  are  to  be  hallowed,  and  the  incense  of  supplica- 
tion, which  is  to  be  presented  before  the  mercy-seat.  The  progress  and  regress  here 
are  the  prophecy  and  the  history  of  salvation.  First  God  comes  forth  to  man  with  the 
mightj^  purpose  of  mercy  in  his  heart  and  on  his  lips  for  four  thousand  years.  Then 
the  great  High  Priest  makes  atonement,  and  returns  to  the  Father  to  send  forth  the 
Spirit  of  sanctification,  and  to  make  intercession  for  all  who  accept  his  mediation. 
So  the  awakened  sinner  finds  the  atonement  for  sin  and  the  cleansing  of  the  heart  to 
be  on  the  way  to  the  Father. 

1-10.  The  altar  of  incense.  It  is  caUed  an  altar,  a  place  of  slaughtering  for  sacri- 
fice, though  no  such  offering  was  to  be  made  on  it,  to  intimate  that  all  acceptable 
worship  or  service  is  only  through  an  atonement  previously  made.  It  therefore  pre- 
supposes, and  is  itself  a  monument  of,  the  altar  of  burnt-offering.  To  hum  incense 
upon.  Incense  in  regard  to  the  priest  is  only  the  merit  of  obedience  for  another,  and 
to  burn  it  is  to  make  intercession  for  that  other.  In  regard  to  the  general  worship- 
per, the  offering  of  incense  symbolizes  every  act  of  prayer,  thanksgiving,  or  obedience, 
which  is  accepted  through  the  intercession  of  the  high  priest.  For  the  propitiation 
has  already  been  made  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice,  and  the  sanctification  has  been 
shadowed  forth  by  the  laver.  And  the  redeemed  and  regenerate  man,  now  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  adoption,  loves  to  speak  and  to  walk  with  his  Heavenly  Father.  1-5. 
The  altar  is  made  of  the  same  wood  as  the  other  parts  of  the  tabernacle.  It  is  over- 
laid with  gold,  and  so  is  in  keeping  with  the  table,  and  stands  in  close  relation  with 
the  candlestick  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  It  is  adorned  with  a  crown  of  gold,  like 
the  table  and  the  ark.  It  is  furnished  with  rings  and  staves,  with  which  it  may  be 
moved  from  place  to  place.  6.  It  is  to  be  placed  before  the  vail  that  hangs  before  the 
ark  of  the  testimony,  before  the  mercy-seat,  with  which  it  stands  in  intimate  correspond- 
ence of  meaning.     Both  presuppose  an  atonement  made  and  accepted  ;  and  over  the 


206  THE   ALTAR   OF   INCEKSE. 

mercj''-seat  is  the  presence  of  God  merciful  and  gracious,  and  at  the  altar  of  incense 
is  the  high  priest  presenting  the  ransomed  people,  that  they  and  their  service  may  be 
accepted.  Hence  the  addition,  where  I  will  meet  with  thee.  In  accordance  v/ith  this  in- 
timate connection,  the  altar  of  incense  was  probably  placed  close  to  the  vail.  In  this 
way  the  candlestick,  the  altar,  and  the  table  would  stand  at  the  middle  points  of  the 
inner  side  of  the  holy  place,  and  the  altar  would  be  in  closest  proximity  with  the 
mercj^-seat.  7-10.  Incense  of  spices  is  to  be  burned  on  it  morning  and  evening  con- 
tinually. No  strange  incense,  none  but  that  prepared  by  divine  appointment  (vs. 
34-38),  no  burnt-offering,  meat-offering,  or  drink-offering  is  to  be  burnt  on  it.  Once 
every  year  Aaron  is  to  make  atonement  upon  the  horns  of  it  by  sprinkling  upon  it  with 
his  finger  seven  times  the  blood  of  the  sin-offering  of  atonement,  to  cleanse  it  and 
to  hallow  it  from  the  uncleanness  of  the  sons  of  Israel  (Lev.  16  :  19).  This  was  di- 
rected to  be  done  also  when  a  sin-offering  was  to  be  pr»esented  for  the  high  priest  or 
the  congregation  (Lev.  4  :  7,  18).  It  is  most  holy  unto  the  Lord.  This  character  is 
ascribed  to  the  inner  sanctuary  (26  :  33),  to  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  (29  :  37),  to  all 
the  furniture  of  the  tabernacle  when  anointed  (30  :  29),  to  all  the  offerings  that  were 
appropriated  to  the  priests,  and  to  the  place  in  which  they  were  to  be  eaten  (Num. 
18  : 9,  10).  In  the  first  of  these  instances  it  distinguishes  the  most  holy  from  the 
holy  place  :  in  the  others  it  expresses  emphatically  the  exclusive  holiness  of  that 
which  belongs  to  God. 

11-16.  A  regulation  is  here  introduced  concerning  those  who  are  to  be  enrolled  as 
the  host  of  the  Lord  (Num.  1  :  3).  They  are  to  give  each  a  ransom  for  his  soul  unto  the 
Lord  when  they  are  numbered.  Here  is  the  constantly  recurring  intimation  that  all  were 
guilty  before  God.  They  cannot,  therefore,  be  received  into  his  service  as  the  host  of 
the  Lord  without  a  ransom.  A  plague  must  fall  on  the  unransomed  soul  that  was 
enrolled  in  the  sacred  list.  The  ransom  money  is  a  bekah,  or  half  shekel.  This  is 
directed  to  be  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary.  The  standard  is  fixed  at  twenty  gerahs. 
We  have  not  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  value  of  the  coins  before  the  captivity. 
But  the  approximate  value  of  the  shekel  was  2s.  3d.  (21  :  32).  The  shekel  of  the  sanctu- 
ary may  be  one  of  full  weight  in  contrast  with  that  of  commerce,  which  may  have 
been  of  less  weight.     We  have  here  the  following  table  of  coins  or  weights  : 

Gerah,  or  hean. 

Beka  (Gen.  24  :  22),  or  half  shekel,  =  10  gerahs., 

Shekel,  or  loeight,  =  20  gerahs. 

Every  one  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward  passed  among  the  numbered  or  regis- 
tered host,  and  paid  the  half  shekel.  The  rich  and  the  poor  give  alike,  because  their 
souls  are  of  equal  value,  and  the  beka  is  the  money  of  atonement  for  each.  The  offer- 
ing is  to  be  for  the  service  of  the  tent  of  meeting  (38  :  27-31). 

17-21.  The  laver  was  to  be  made  of  brass,  and  its  stand  of  the  same  material  (38  :  8). 
Its  place  was  between  the  altar  and  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  If  the  interval  be- 
tween the  door  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  gate  of  the  court  (see  on  27  :  19)  were  fifty 
cubits,  or  seventy-five  feet,  the  altar  and  the  laver  may  have  divided  this  into  three 
equal  spaces  of  twenty-five  feet.  The  Talmud  supposes  the  laver  to  have  been  placed 
a  little  south  of  the  middle  line  of  the  court.  This  will  depend  very  much  on  the  de- 
gree of  importance  attached  to  the  laver.  If  it  be  merely  a  means  of  cleanliness,  it 
may  be  set  aside.  But  if  its  use  be  a  symbol  of  sanctification,  it  will  stand  in  the 
same  line  with  the  altar.     Its  jpurpose  is  washing,  that  Aaron  and  his  sons  may  wash 


EXODUS  XXX.  22-38.  207 

thereout  their  hands  and  their  feet.  The  phrase  thereout  indicates  that  water  was  taken 
out  of  the  laver  into  a  smaller  vessel  for  washing.  The  washing  itself  indicates  that 
the  priests  were  unclean,  not  only  by  mingling  with  the  people,  but  by  their  own  in- 
herent sinfulness.  The  feet  and  hands  with  which  they  go  and  minister  are  to  be 
cleansed,  lest  they  die.  Death  is  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  therefore  this  outward 
cleansing  is  an  emblem  of  that  inward  purity  which  must  characterize  him  who  is  to 
make  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  This  cleansing  is  a  perpetual  statute. 
This  is  in  keeping  with  its  intrinsic  importance  as  the  symbol  of  sanctification. 

22-33.  The  holy  anointing  oil.  This  is  to  be  composed  of  five  ingredients  :  five 
hundred  shekels  of  pure  myrrh,  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  sweet  cinnamon,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  of  sweet  calamus,  and  five  hundred  of  cassia,  and  a  hin,  about  three 
quarters,  of  olive  oil.  It  is  said  to  be  compounded  after  the  art  of  the  perfumer.  It 
is  probable,  therefore,  as  the  Kabbins  suppose,  that  the  three  spices  were  soaked  in 
water,  and  boiled,  and  their  essence  extracted  and  mingled  with  the  myrrh  and  oil. 
26-30.  With  the  anointing  oil  are  to  be  anointed  the  tent  of  meeting,  the  ark  of  the 
testimony,  the  table,  the  candlestick,  and  the  altar  of  incense,  the  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing, the  laver,  and  all  their  appurtenances.  Being  thus  anointed,  they  are  hallowed, 
and  are  accounted  most  holy  (vs.  10).  Aaron  and  his  sons  are  to  be  anointed  and 
consecrated  to  their  priestly  office.  31-33.  This  is  to  be  a  standing  oil  for  anointing, 
not  to  be  used  for  common  purposes,  not  to  be  imitated  in  ordinary  compounds,  on 
pain  of  excommunication  (Gen.  17  :  14).  The  anointing  oil  is  an  impressive  symbol 
of  sanctif  jdng  grace.  It  is  analogous  to  the  water  of  the  laver,  which  cleanses.  The 
latter  points  to  the  quality  required  ;  the  former  to  the  end  contemplated.  That 
which  is  dedicated  to  God  must  be  cleansed  from  stain. 

34-38,  The  incense.  This  also  contains  five  simples— stacte,  onycha,  galbanum, 
frankincense,  and  salt.  Stacte  is  the  natural  dropping  of  some  sweet-scented  plant, 
probably  the  storax.  Onycha  is  probably  the  operculum,  claw,  or  lid  of  the  shell  of  a 
strombus,  or  other  fish,  emitting  a  scent,  which,  if  not  agreeable  in  itself,  enhances 
the  sweet  odor  of  the  other  ingredients  combined  with  it.  Galbanum  is  the  gum  of  a 
si^ecies  of  ferula  {fisTUTiiov  Dioscor.)  or  stagonite  (Pliny),  of  a  sharp,  bitter  taste,  fitted 
to  add  to  the  strength  and  duration  of  the  other  comj)onents.  Frankincense  is  the 
odoriferous  resin  of  a  plant  that  grew  in  Arabia  Felix  and  India,  which  was  frequently 
used  in  religious  offerings.  Pui-e,  free  from  adulteration.  Part  hy  part  shall  there  he, 
each  prepared  apart  from  the  others,  or  an  equal  part  of  each  shall  enter  into  the 
compound.  35.  An  incense  for  burning  on  the  golden  altar.  A  perfume  diffusing  an 
agreeable  fragrance.  The  work  of  the  perfumer,  prepared  according  to  the  rules  of  a 
well-known  art.  Salted,  as  every  meat-offering  was.  Salt  is  the  emblem  of  incorrupti- 
bility. Pure,  free  from  foreign  admixture.  Holy,  dedicated  to  the  holy  use  for  which 
its  purity  fits  it.  36.  Beat  of  it  fine,  reduce  it  to  a  powder,  that  it  may  burn  freelj^ 
Andpxd  of  it  before  the  testimony,  on  the  altar  of  incense,  which  stood  close  to  the  vail 
that  separated  the  holy  from  the  most  holy  place,  containing  the  ark  of  the  testimony. 
In  the  tent  of  meeting,  where  I  will  meet  with  thee.  Where  the  Lord  meets  with  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  people,  there  is  the  place  of  conference,  and  therefore  of  prayer,  adora- 
tion, confession,  and  inquiry  on  the  one  hand  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  of  hearing, 
granting,  accepting,  and  answering.  Incense  is  accordingly  the  emblem  of  prayer  and 
praise.  37,  38.  This  incense  is  not  to  be  applied  to  any  ordinary  use,  or  imitated,  on 
pain  of  excision. 


208  THE    MASTER    OF   THE   WOEK. 


CHAP.  XXXI. THE   MASTER    OF   THE   WORK. 

1.  ^{^^\J3  Betsalel.     This  is  usually  explained,  in  the  shadow  of  God.     i-]*!^  Uri, 
light. 
6.  2^<^7^^?  Olioliab,  tent-father.     Tl'ODTit^  Achisamak,  help-hrother. 
10.  "i"^ti^  separation,  distinction,  official  distinction  ;  r.  separate,  escape,  remain. 

XXXI.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  tinto  Moses,  saying,  2.  See,  I  have  called  by  name 
Bezalel,  son  of  Uri,  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  :  3.  And  filled  him  with  th^ 
spirit  of  God,  in  wisdom,  and  in  understanding,  and  in  knowledge,  and  in  all  work- 
manship, 4.  To  devise  designs  ;  to  work  in  gold,  in  silver,  and  in  brass,  5.  And  in 
cutting  of  stones  for  setting,  and  in  carving  of  wood  ;  to  work  in  all  workmanship. 
6.  And  I,  behold  I  have  given  unto  him  Aholiab,  son  of  Ahisamak,  of  the  tribe  of 
Dan  ;  and  in  the  heart  of  every  wise-hearted  one  I  have  put  wisdom  ;  and  they  shall 
make  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee  :  7.  The  tent  of  meeting,  and  the  ark  of  the 
testimony,  and  the  mercy-seat  that  is  thereupon,  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  tent  ; 
8.  And  the  table  and  its  vessels,  and  the  pure  candlestick  and  all  its  vessels,  and  the 
altar  of  incense,  9.  And  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  and  all  its  vessels,  and  the  laver 
and  its  stand  ;  10.  And  the  garments  of  office,  and  the  holy  garments  for  Aaron  the 
priest,  and  the  garments  of  his  sons  to  serve  as  priests  ;  11.  And  the  anointing  oil, 
and  the  sweet  incense  for  the  holy  place  :  according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded 
thee  shall  they  do.  ^  47. 

12.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  13.  And  thou  speak  unto  the  sons  of 
Israel,  saying,  Verily  my  Sabbaths  ye  shall  keep  ;  for  it  is  a  sign  between  me  and  you 
for  your  generations  to  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  that  halloweth  you.  14.  And  ye 
shall  keep  the  Sabbath,  for  it  is  holy  unto  you  :  he  that  defileth  it  shall  surely  be  put 
to  death  ;  for  whosoever  doeth  any  work  therein,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among 
his  people.  15.  Six  days  shall  work  be  done  :  and  in  the  seventh  is  a  Sabbath  of  rest, 
hol}^  to  the  Lord  :  whosoever  doeth  any  work  on  the  Sabbath-day  shall  surely  be  put 
to  death.  16.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  shall  keep  the  Sabbath,  to  observe  the  Sabbath 
in  their  generations  for  a  perpetual  covenant.  17.  It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  the 
sons  of  Israel  for  ever  :  for  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  on  the 
seventh  day  he  rested  and  was  refreshed.  »  §  74. 

18.  And  he  gave  unto  Moses,  when  he  made  an  end  of  speaking  with  him  upon 
Mount  Sinai,  the  two  tables  of  testimony,  tables  of  stone,  written  with  the  finger  of 
God. 

The  seventh  chapter  completes  the  specifications  by  naming  the  chief  workman, 
with  his  second,  and  assigning  to  him  the  execution  of  all  the  works.  This  is  fol- 
lowed by  an  injunction  concerning  the  Sabbath  ;  and  then  the  scene  is  closed  by  hand- 
ing over  to  Moses  the  two  tables  of  the  law  written  with  the  finger  of  God. 

1-11.  The  calling  of  Bezalel.  I  have  called  by  name,  appointed  to  office  by  naming 
the  man.  Bezalel.  The  order  of  descent  is  Judah,  Parez,  Hezron,  Kaleb,  Hur,  TJri^ 
Bezalel  (1  Chron.  2  : 1-20).  Hence  Bezalel  belongs  to  the  seventh  generation  after 
Jacob,  audit  is  evident  that  he  was  now  at  man's  estate,  and  may  have  been  the  father 
of  a  family.  For  Kaleb,  his  great-grandfather,  is  at  least  three  generations  before 
Kaleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  the  companion  of  Joshua,  and  jjrobably  of  the  same 
generation  with  Bezalel.  Hur,  the  son  of  Kaleb,  belongs  to  the  fourth  generation 
from  Judah,  and  is  therefore  parallel  with  Moses  and  Aaron,  who  are  in  the  third 
from  Levi.  3.  Filled  him  with  the  spirit  of  God.  His  natural  powers  are  hereby  ex- 
alted for  the  works  he  has  to  perform.  Wisdom  to  devise,  viider standing  to  apprehend, 
knowledge  to  explain,  and  workmanship  to  make  expert.     4,  5.    To  devise  designs,  from  a 


EXODUS  XXXI.  12-18.  209 

mere  verbal  explanation.  To  work  in  tlie  various  materials  employed  in  the  taber- 
nacle. 6.  A  companion  and  deputy  is  provided  in  Aholiab  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  whose 
qualifications  are  described  in  38  :  23.  And  all  the  wise-hearted  men  are  required  to 
take  part  in  the  work.  7-11,  The  various  works  to  be  executed  are  now  enumerated. 
10.  And  the  garments  of  office.  The  phrase  thus  rendered  occurs  only  in  three  other 
places  (35  :  19  ;  39  : 1,  41),  in  two  of  which  it  is  followed  by  the  words,  "  to  minister 
in  the  sanctuary."  It  appears  to  denote,  not  the  cloths  for  covering  the  furniture 
(Num.  4  :  6-14),  as  they  were  not  strictly  for  ministering  in  the  sanctuary,  nor  the  inner 
curtains  of  the  sanctuary,  as  they  are  previously  mentioned  in  39  :  40,  but  the  special 
j)arts  of  official  array  worn  by  the  high  priest  to  distinguish  him  from  the  others. 

12-17.  The  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  is  here  reinforced,  because  it  might  be  supposed 
that  so  holy  a  work  as  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  might  supersede  the  weekly 
rest.  Verily  my  Sabbaths  ye  shall  keep.  They  are  by  no  means  to  be  remitted,  even 
on  this  extraordinary  occasion.  It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  you.  As  the  Sabbath  was  a 
divine  institution  commemorative  of  that  creation  in  which  the  progenitor  of  the 
human  race  came  into  being,  the  observance  of  it  by  any  remnant  of  the  hum^an  family 
was  a  token  that,  amid  the  general  apostasy,  they  had  retained  or  returned  to  their 
allegiance  to  the  God  of  their  being.  For  your  generations.  The  commemorative  rest 
is  to  continue  as  long  as  the  intelligent  race  whose  origin  it  celebrates.  To  know  that 
I  am  the  Lord  that  halloweth  you.  The  people  called  to  his  favor  and  hallowed  to  his 
service  know  themselves  and  are  known  by  others  to  be  his  by  the  Sabbath  which  they 
receive,  understand,  and  sacredlj^  observe.  14,  15.  The  civil  penalty  of  death,  as  weU 
as  the  hierarchical  one  of  excision  from  the  people  of  God,  is  attached  to  its  desecra- 
tion. 16,  17.  The  perpetuity  of  its  obligation,  and  the  significance  of  its  observance 
are  then  reiterated.  In  referring  to  its  origin  the  sacred  historian  employs  the  remark- 
able expression,  "on  the  seventh  day  he  rested  and  was  refreshed."  The  ''refresh- 
ment" must  be  understood  in  a  sense  worthy  of  him  who  "  fainteth  not  neither  is 
weary."  It  includes,  at  all  events,  the  pure  delight  arising  from  the  consciousness  of 
a  design  accomplished,  and  from  the  contemplation  of  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  the 
work. 

18.  At  the  end  of  the  communication  made  to  Moses,  the  two  tables  of  stone  on. 
which  were  written  the  ten  commandments  by  the  finger  of  God.  To  receive  these 
he  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Lord  on  the  mount  (24  :  12).  The  two  tables 
were,  when  placed  side  by  side,  somewhat  less  than  two  and  a  half  cubits  by  one  and 
a  half,  if  they  were  to  lie  beside  each  other  on  the  bottom  of  the  ark  (25  :  10).  If 
they  were  each  a  cubit  square  they  might  easily  contain  on  the  four  surfaces  which 
they  present,  the  six  hundred  and  twenty  letters  contained  in  the  Decalogue,  and  could 
be  readily  carried  by  Moses.  Of  testimony.  The  ten  words  contain  the  testimony  of 
the  Lord  regarding  the  relation  of  the  people  to  him  and  their  consequent  obligations 
(25  :  16).  Tables  of  stone.  Stone  was  the  native  material  for  a  monumental  inscrip- 
tion. It  was  in  constant  use  for  the  purpose  among  the  ancients.  Written  with  the 
finger  of  God.  As  these  ten  words  were  proclaimed  by  the  voice,  so  they  are  here  said 
to  be  written  by  the  finger  of  God.  But  as  they  heard  on  that  dread  occasion  "  the 
voice  of  words,  but  saw  no  similitude,"  so  the  engraving  on  stone  implies  no  visible 
finger  of  God,  but  only  the  putting  forth  of  his  power  for  the  production  of  an  authen- 
tic and  permanent  copy  of  the  moral  law. 


210  THE   ACT   OE   APOSTASY. 

XIV.     THE   FIRST   BREACH   OF  THE   COVENANT.— Ex.  83-34. 

CHAP.    XXXII. — THE    ACT   OF   APOSTASY. 

XXXII.  1.  And  the  people  saw  that  Moses  delayed  to  come  down  out  of  the  mount, 
and  the  people  gathered  unto  Aaron,  and  said  unto  him,  Up,  make  us  gods,  who  shall 
go  before  us  :  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim, 
we  know  not  what  is  become  of  him.  2.  And  Aaron  said  unto  them.  Pluck  off  the 
gold  rings  which  are  in  the  ears  of  your  wives,  your  sons,  and  your  daughters,  and 
bring  them  unto  me.  3.  And  all  the  people  plucked  olf  the  gold  rings  which  were  in 
their  ears,  and  brought  them  unto  Aaron.  4.  And  he  took  them  from  their  hand,  and 
formed  it  with  a  graving  tool,  and  made  it  a  molten  calf  :  and  they  said.  These  be  thy 
gods,  O  Israel,  who  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim.  5.  And  Aaron  saw 
it,  and  built  an  altar  before  it  :  and  Aaron  proclaimed  and  said,  A  feast  to  the  Lord 
to-morrow.  6.  And  they  arose  early  on  the  morrow,  and  offered  burnt-offerings  and 
brought  peace-offerings  :  and  the  peoj)le  sat  down  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and  rose  up  to 
play.  ^  48. 

7.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  Go,  get  thee  down  ;  for  thy  people,  which  thou 
broughtest  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim  have  done  corruptly.  8.  They  have  turned  aside 
quickly  out  of  the  way  which  I  have  commanded  them  :  they  have  made  them  a  mol- 
ten calf,  and  bowed  down  to  it  and  sacrificed  unto  it,  and  said.  These  be  thy  gods,  O 
Israel,  who  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim.  9.  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
Moses,  I  have  seen  this  people,  and  behold  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people.  10.  And  now 
let  me  alone,  and  my  wrath  shall  wax  hot  against  them,  and  I  will  consume  them  ; 
and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation.  11.  And  Moses  besought  the  Lord  his  God, 
and  said,  Why,  O  Lord,  doth  thy  wrath  wax  hot  against  thy  people,  which  thou  hast 
brought  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim  with  great  power  and  with  a  mighty  hand  ?  12. 
Why  should  Mizraim  speak,  saying.  For  evil  he  has  brought  them  out,  to  slay  them  in 
the  mountains,  and  to  consume  them  from  the  face  of  the  ground  ?  Turn  from  thy 
hot  wrath,  and  relent  from  the  evil  against  thy  people.  13.  Remember  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Israel,  thy  servants,  to  whom  thou  swarest  by  thyself,  and  spakest  unto 
them,  I  will  multiply  your  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven  ;  and  all  this  land  of  which  I 
have  spoken  will  I  give  unto  your  seed,  and  they  shall  inherit  it  forever.  14.  And  the 
Lord  relented  from  the  evil  which  he  had  said  he  would  do  unto  his  people.         ^\  49. 

15.  And  Moses  turned  and  went  down  from  the  mount,  and  the  two  tables  of  the  testi- 
mony in  his  hand  :  the  tables  were  written  on  both  their  sides  ;  on  this  side  and  on  that 
were  they  written.  16.  And  the  tables  were  the  work  of  God  ;  and  the  writing  of  God, 
graven  on  the  tables.  17.  And  Joshua  heard  the  voice  of  the  people  as  they  shouted  ; 
and  he  said  unto  Moses,  The  voice  of  war  is  in  the  camp.  18.  And  he  said.  It  is  not  the 
voice  of  the  cry  for  masterj^,  nor  the  voice  of  the  cry  for  weakness  ;  the  voice  of  them 
that  sing  do  I  hear.  19.  And  it  came  to  j)ass  when  he  came  nigh  unto  the  camp,  then  he 
saw  the  calf  and  the  dances,  and  Moses's  anger  waxed  hot,  and  he  cast  the  tables  out  of 
his  hands,  and  brake  them  beneath  the  mount.  20.  And  he  took  the  calf  which  they 
had  made,  and  burned  it  in  the  fire,  and  ground  it  to  powder,  and  strawed  it  upon 
the  water,  and  made  the  sons  of  Israel  drink  of  it.  21.  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron, 
What  hath  this  people  done  unto  thee,  that  thou  hast  brought  a  great  sin  upon  them. 
22.  And  Aaron  said.  Let  not  my  lord's  anger  wax  hot  ;  thou  knowest  the  people,  that 
they  are  set  on  evil.  23.  And  they  said  unto  me.  Make  us  gods,  who  shall  go  before 
us  ;  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  we  know 
;  not  what  is  become  of  him.  24.  And  I  said  unto  them,  Whosoever  hath  gold,  pluck  it 
off  ;  and  they  gave  it  me  :  and  I  cast  it  into  the  fire,  and  this  calf  came  out.  25.  And 
'  Closes  saw  the  people  that  they  were  broken  loose,  for  Aaron  had  cast  them  loose,  for 
a  hissing  among  their  adversaries.  26.  And  Moses  stood  in  the  gate  of  the  camp, 
and  said,  Whoever  is  for  the  Lord,  come  unto  me  ;  and  all  the  sons  of  Levi  gathered 
unto  him.  27.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lokd  God  of  Israel,  Put  every 
man  his  sword  on  his  thigh,  pass  and  return  from  gate  to  gate  in  the  camjo,  and  slay 
every  man  his  brother,  and  every  man  his  friend,  and  every  man  his  neighbor.  28. 
And  the  sons  of  Levi  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses  :  and  there  fell  of  the  people 


EXODUS  XXXII.   1-6.  211 

tliat  day  about  three  thousand  men.  29.  And  Moses  said,  Fill  your  hand  to-day  unto 
the  Lord,  that  every  man  may  be  upon  his  son  and  upon  his  brother,  and  he  may  be- 
stow upon  you  to-day  a  blessing. 

30.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  Ye  have 
sinned  a  great  sin  :  and  now  I  will  go  to  the  Lord  ;  mayhap  I  shall  make  an  atone- 
ment for  your  sin.  31.  And  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lobd,  and  said,  Ah,  this  people 
have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  made  them  gods  of  gold.  32.  And  now  if  thou  wilt  for- 
give their  sin ;  and  if  not,  blot  me  now  out  of  thy  book  which  thou  hast  written. 

33.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Moses,  Whosoever  hath  sinned  against  me,  him  will  I  blot 
out  of  my  book.  34.  And  now  go  lead  the  people  to  the  place  of  which  I  have  spoken 
unto  thee  ;  behold  my  angel  shall  go  before  thee  :  and  in  the  day  of  my  visitation  i 
will  visit  their  sin  upon  them.  35.  And  the  Lord  smote  the  people,  because  they 
made  the  calf  which  Aaron  made.  §  75. 

Moses  had  now  been  forty  days,  or  little  short  of  six  weeks,  absefit  from  the  people. 
This  was  to  him  a  period  of  adoration,  inquiry,  and  instruction,  and  to  the  people  of 
patience  and  probation.  The  awful  voice  of  the  Lord  proclaiming  in  articulate  words 
the  ten  commandments  from  the  pillar  of  fire  on  Mount  Sinai  had  struck  iipon  their 
ears.  They  had  been  so  awe-stricken  with  the  scene  that  they  besought  their  leader 
to  hear  himself  the  words  of  the  Lord  and  communicate  them  to  them,  promising 
instant  and  unreserved  obedience.  The  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  into  which  Moses 
had  been  received  was  still  conspicuous  on  the  mount.  But  still  they  had  become 
familiar  with  the  sublime  spectacle,  and  the  time  of  their  leader's  absence  seemed 
long.  The  general  mass  of  them  at  length  gives  way  to  impatience,  and  Aaron  him- 
self, yielding  to  their  importunity,  makes  them  a  golden  calf  as  a  sensible  representa- 
tion of  the  God  whom  they  still  so  grossly  misapprehended.  This  was  a  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  second  jDrecept  at  least  of  that  Decalogue  which  had  received  their  volun- 
tary assent  under  circumstances  of  so  great  solemnity,  though  they  seem  still  to  have 
intended  to  acknowledge  and  adhere  to  the  Lord  their  God.  This  untoward  event 
warns  us  against  the  hasty  conclusion  that  a  whole  people  bowing  before  God  in  a 
moment  of  intense  feeling  have  there  and  then  passed  from  a  fallen  to  a  renewed 
state,  rendered  a  unanimous  homage  to  the  God  of  mercy  and  salvation,  learned  the 
whole  scheme  of  theological  truth,  or  acquired  the  habit  of  intelligent  and  uniform 
obedience  to  the  law  of  eternal  rectitude.  There  has  been  in  all  an  incipient  inten- 
tion of  allegiance  to  the  Lord  of  heaven,  but  only  in  some  had  this  been  the  outgoing 
of  a  renewed  heart,  and  only  in  a  few  has  it  been  so  strong  as  uniformly  to  resist  the 
waj^-^ard  impulses  and  lingering  habits  of  the  old  nature.  Even  Aaron  is  carried  away 
by  the  general  movement.  The  few  true  hearts  are  weak  and  mute.  This  breach  is 
well  calculated  to  impress  us  with  the  fact  that  the  true  Saviour  is  yet  to  come,  and 
that  we  are  still  in  the  time  of  types  and  shadows. 

1-6.  The  image  worship.  Moses  delayed,  literally,  put  the  expectants  to  shame  by 
his  non-appearance,  a  word  very  expressive  of  the  state  of  mind  into  which  the  peo- 
ple had  got  toward  the  end  of  the  forty  days.  Make  us  gods.  The  plural  form  is  here 
carried  in  the  syntax,  and  is  therefore  retained  in  the  translation,  though  the  one 
great  object  of  worship  is  understood,  as  when  we  use  the  phrase,  "  the  powers 
above."  The  idol  which  Aaron  forms  is  accordingly  a  single  figure.  WJio  shall  go  be- 
fore us  ?  This  implies  an  impatience  of  the  unaccountable  delay,  which  in  their  yet  un- 
subdued dispositions  they  could  not  brook.  They  must  away  to  that  land  of  promise 
which  presented  in  their  imagination  so  bright  a  contrast  to  the  bleak  and  barren 
wilderness  in  which  they  lay  encamped.      This  Moses,  with  the  wand  and  hand  of 


212  THE   GOLDEK   CALF. 

power,  had  been  to  them  a  tangible  proof  of  the  divine  presence,  precluding  the 
necessity  of  a  visible  symbol.  But  they  know  not  what  is  become  of  him.  He  seems  to 
have  deserted  them.  At  all  events,  he  has  been  so  long  absent  that  they  seem  to 
have  lost  confidence  in  him  and  respect  for  him.  2,  3.  Aaron  demands  of  them,  as 
part  of  the  material  for  making  the  idol,  the  rings  of  gold  which  were  in  their  ears, 
apparently  to  make  them  feel  their  personal  responsibility  for  the  step  which  they 
required  him  to  take.  They  hesitated  not  to  comply.  4.  He  took  the  gold  trinkets, 
formed  it,  the  idol,  with  a  graving  tool,  and  made  it  a  molten  calf.  The  sacred  histo- 
rian takes  no  pleasure  in  this  transaction,  and  therefore  gives  us  only  a  brief  and 
general  account  of  it.  It  is  probable  that  the  idol  was  a  piece  of  wood  carved  into 
shape,  and  then  overlaid  with  the  gold  which  was  obtained  by  melting  down  the  ear- 
rings ;  and  so  it  became  a  molten  calf.  The  people  accept  this  as  the  similitude  of 
God,  who  brought' them  out  of  Egypt.  The  model  after  which  it  was  formed  was  no 
doubt  the  bull  (either  Mnevis  of  Heliopolis,  representing  the  sun,  or  Apis  of  Mem- 
phis, representing  Osiris),  worshipped,  as  the  people  were  well  aware,  by  the  Egyp- 
tians. 5,  6.  Aaron,  seeing  their  disposition,  proceeds  to  erect  an  altar  and  proclaim  a 
feast  to  the  Lord  on  the  morrow.  The  intention  is  to  worship  the  Lord,  though  in  an 
unworthy  manner.  The .  next  day  finds  them  early  engaged  in  bringing  burnt- 
offerings  and  peace-ofEerings.  Of  the  latter  it  was  the  custom  to  partake,  and  after 
the  festal  repast  they  rose  up  to  play.  This  phrase  includes  the  wanton  license  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  witness  in  the  abominable  rites  of  the  heathen. 

7-14.  This  religious  revel  had  taken  place  on  the  fortieth  day  of  Moses's  abode  on 
the  mount.  He  had  received  the  two  tables  from  the  Lord  (31  :  18),  and  was  there- 
fore prepared  to  descend,  when  he  was  surprised  with  the  order,  "  Go,  get  thee 
down,  for  thy  people,  which  thou  broughtest  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  have  done 
corruptly."  In  the  abhorrence  which  their  idolatrous  and  licentious  worship  created, 
they  are  caUed  the  people  of  Moses,  and  their  deliverance  is  ascribed  to  him.  The 
crime  they  had  committed  is  then  briefly  and  emphatically  described.  9,  10.  After  a 
pause,  in  which  he  has  time  to  recover  somewhat  from  his  consternation  of  mind,  the 
Lord  calls  upon  Moses,  who  was  no  doubt  preparing  to  make  supplication  on  their 
behalf,  to  let  him  alone,  that  he  may  consume  this  stiff-necked  people  in  the  fire  of 
his  just  wrath,  and  make  of  Moses  a  great  nation.  11.  This  strong  and  natural  ex- 
pression of  righteous  indignation  does  not,  however,  forbid,  but  rather  calls  forth  the 
beseeching  expostulation  of  Moses.  He  urges  three  reasons  why  the  Lord  should 
forego  the  demands  of  justice  in  regard  to  the  people.  First,  they  were  his  own  peo- 
ple, whom  he  had  delivered  from  Egypt  by  great  power  ;  secondly,  the  glory  of  his 
wisdom  and  goodness  would  be  tarnished  in  Egypt  ;  and  thirdly,  his  promises  to  their 
fathers  would  be  neglected.  Moses  makes  and  could  make  no  appeal  to  any  mitigat- 
ing circumstance  in  the  people  themselves.  He  rises,  therefore,  at  once  above  all 
this  to  the  purpose  of  God  in  bringing  them  out  of  Egypt,  which  was  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  save,  and  that  not  themselves  only,  but  by  them  the  whole  race  ultimately  ; 
then  to  the  lesson  which  was  to  be  read  to  Egypt,  and  which  would  be  unread  if  Israel 
were  destroyed  ;  and  lastly  to  the  faith  which  was  to  be  kept  with  the  fathers  who 
had  received  the  promises.  14.  At  the  intercession  of  Moses,  the  Lord  relents.  He  by 
whom  all  events  are  foreseen,  cannot  be  taken  by  surprise  or  waver  in  his  purpose. 
His  indignation  at  moral  evil  is  simply  the  burning  feeling  of  its  intrinsic  demerit, 
and  of  the  requital  which  justice  demands.     His  repentance  is  merely  his  relenting 


EXODUS  XXXII.  15-29.  213 

from  the  rigid  enforcement  of  justice,  in  accordance  with  his  determined  purpose  to 
dispense  his  mercy  to  retiirning  penitents  of  the  tempted  and  fallen  race  of  man. 

15-29.  After  this  agitating  scene,  Moses  turns  hastily  to  descend  from  the  mount. 
It  is  carefully  noted  that  the  two  tables  of  the  testimony  were  in  his  hand  ;  their 
preciousness  is  indicated  by  the  words  of  immutable  truth  which  were  inscribed  on 
both  sides  of  them  ;  their  sacredness  by  the  remembrance  that  both  the  forming  of 
the  tables  and  the  writing  upon  them  was  the  immediate  work  of  God.  17,  18. 
Joshua  has  been  waiting  for  Moses  apparently  outside  the  cloud  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence. He  is  therefore  ignorant  of  what  is  going  on  in  the  camp.  He  supposes  it  at 
first  to  be  the  sound  of  war.  After  listening  further,  Moses  remarks  that  it  is  not  the 
cry  of  the  conqueror  or  the  conquered,  but  of  those  who  are  making  merry.  19,  20. 
The  scene  which  was  presented  when  they  drew  nigh  to  the  camp  aroused  the  regret- 
ful indignation  of  Moses.  He  felt  that  the  solemn  covenant  with  God  had  been 
shamefully  violated.  He  cast  down  the  tables  containing  the  holy  and  gracious  con- 
ditions of  this  covenant,  and  broke  them  before  their  eyes  (Deut.  9  :  17).* 

This  act  expressed  with  a  terrible  distinctness  the  consequence  of  their  infatuated 
crime.  He  burned  the  calf,  ground  it  to  powder,  and  strowed  it  on  the  water,  in  the 
brook  from  which  alone  they  were  supplied  with  drink  (Deut.  2  :  21).  The  stock  of 
the  idol,  being  probably  of  wood,  was  burned,  and,  with  the  gold,  reduced  to  a  powder. 
It  is  not  likely  that  the  gold  was  calcined  by  a  chemical  process.  The  drinking  of  the 
water  mingled  with  the  ashes  of  their  idol  was  well  calculated  to  remind  them  both 
that  an  idol  is  nothing  in  the  world,  and  that  they  must  all  reap  the  bitter  fruits  of 
their  common  infatuation.  21-24.  Moses  now  expostulates  with  Aaron  for  his  highly 
inexcusable  part  in  this  crime.  What  hath  the  people  done  unto  thee?  What  force  had 
they  put  upon  him?  What  was  the  necessity  under  which  he  had  acted ?  Aaron's 
defence  is  that  the  people  were  set  on  evil,  and  that  he  yielded  to  their  will.  It  is 
plain  that  he  was  guilty  of  a  weak  and  timid  compliance  with  what  he  knew  to  be 
wrong.  And  we  are  informed  elsewhere  that  Moses  made  special  intercession  for  him 
(Deut.  9  :  20).  25-29.  Moses  now  turns  from  Aaron  to  the  people,  whom  he  perceives 
to  be  cast  loose  from  all  right  feeling  and  reverence  for  God,  thrown  into  a  state  of 
reckless  disorder  and  helpless  anarchy,  and  exposed  as  an  object  of  contempt  to  their 
adversaries.  His  sudden  reappearance  among  them,  his  stern  decisiveness,  in  marked 
contrast  with  the  yielding  feebleness  of  Aaron,  the  remembrance  of  the  miracles 
which  he  was  enabled  to  perform,  the  significant  acts  of  breaking  the  tables  of  cove- 
nant and  destroying  the  symbol  of  their  guilt,  had  arrested  their  wild  carousal  and 
paralyzed  their  force  of  resistance.  At  this  critical  moment  he  summons  to  him  all 
that  are  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  commands  them  to  gird  on  the  sword,  and,  without 
respect  of  kindred,  slay  every  man  that  stands  out  in  his  rebellion.  The  sons  of 
Levi,  moved,  among  other  considerations,  by  a  clearer  insight  and  a  deeper  feeling  of 
what  is  right,  and  it  may  be  by  their  relationship  to  Moses,  range  themselves  by  his 
side,  take  the  sword  of  execution,  and  three  thousand  of  the  people  (doubtless  the 
turbulent  and  rebellious)  fall  by  their  hands.  29.  Fill  your  hand  to-day  unto  the  Lord. 
Take  your  part  in  that  which  is  due  to  the  Lord,  that  every  man  may  be  upon  or  against 
his  nearest  relative  among  the  rebels  against  the  Most  High.     In  a  moment  of  wide- 

*  To  understand  this  act  we  have  to  think  of  more  than  the  holy  indignation  of  God's  seiTant. 
We  have  to  remember  the  circumstances  in  which  the  tables  were  given,  and  their  relation  to  the 
covenant  into  which  the  people  voluntarily  entered,  and  which  they  had  now  shamefully  broken. — 
J.  H. 


214  THE   IKTERCESSIOK    OF   MOSES. 

spread  treason  against  the  Supreme  Governor,  to  whom  allegiance  has  heen  sworn,  it 
behooves  the  few  bold  and  loyal  men  to  strike  promptly  and  resolutely  for  the  cause  of 
truth  and  order.  Such  faithfulness  in  the  day  of  treachery  wins  the  blessing  from  that 
Sovereign  whom  there  is  no  possibility  of  either  deceiving  or  resisting.  It  need  not 
seem  strange  that  the  Levites  met  with  no  effectual  resistance  in  their  stern  vindication 
of  the  law.  A  great  number  of  the  people  must  have  disapproved,  though  in  silence, 
of  the  idolatrous  proceeding.  Many  more  were  totally  indifferent,  though  they  suf- 
fered themselves  to  be  led  by  the  few  turbulent  and  perverse  spirits.  All  these  would 
shrink  away  conscience-stricken  before  the  eye,  the  hand,  and  the  word  of  Moses. 
Only  a  few  grovelling  souls  that  lusted  after  the  abominations  of  the  idol-worship  in 
Egypt  would  remain  to  fall  under  the  swords  of  those  whose  ancestor  was  so  prompt 
to  avenge  the  adultery  of  Shekem  (Gen.  34  :  25). 

30-35.  Moses  turns  from  the  now  trembling  people  with  the  promise  that  he  would 
interc  ede  for  them  with  the  Lord.  It  is  true  that  the  Lord  had  relented  from  his 
fierce  wrath.  But  Moses  had  meanwhile  witnessed  the  deplorable  revolt  of  the  people. 
And  though  instant  perdition  was  stayed,  yet  he  felt  that  they  were  not  yet  fully  par- 
doned or  altogether  restored  to  favor.  His  mode  of  intercession  is  brief  but  forcible. 
He  confesses  the  enormity  of  their  sin,  and  then  says,  And  now,  if  thou  wilt  forgive  their 
sm.  This  is  an  impassioned  form  of  entreaty.  It  leaves  the  consequence  unuttered, 
in  the  urgency  and  inexpressible  earnestness  of  desire.  We  may  imagine  the  unspoken 
issue  to  be,  that  Moses  would  count  life  a  blessing.  For  he  immediately  adds.  And  if 
not,  blot  me  now  out  of  thy  hook  which  thou  hast  written.  He  feels  at  the  moment  that  life 
would  be  insupportable  if  his  people  were  unforgiven.  The  book  here  spoken  of  is  the 
book  of  life.  It  was  even  then  the  custom  of  every  city  in  a  literary  community  to 
keep  a  list  of  the  burgesses.  The  Israelites  were  familiar  with  the  custom  of  keeping  a 
register  of  families  (Gen.  5  : 1).  The  shoterim  or  "  officers"  were  employed  in  keep- 
ing these  and  other  registers  (vs.  6).  Hence  Moses  uses  a  familiar  figure  in  speaking 
of  God's  book  (Ps.  69  :  29  ;  Dan.  12  : 1).  33,  34.  The  Lord  directs  Moses  to  go  and 
lead  the  people  to  the  land  of  promise.  He  promises  that  Ais  an^/eZ  shall  go  before 
him.  The  angel  here  spoken  of  is  that  mediating  angel  of  whom  we  read  in  Gen. 
14  :  7,  and  Ex.  23  :  20,  who  possesses  the  attributes  and  exercises  the  prerogatives  of 
the  Most  High.  But  at  the  same  time  he  adds.  In  the  day  of  my  visitation  I  icill  visit 
their  sin  upon  them.  The  fulness  of  their  iniquity  was  not  yet  come,  though  it  is  fore- 
seen. The  intercessor  has  prevailed,  but  he  has  not  yet  heard  the  sentence  of  full  re- 
mission. 35.  No  further  account  of  this  plague  or  of  its  nature  is  given.  They  made 
the  calf  which  Aaron  made.  Those  who  cause  a  thing  to  be  made  are  chargeable  with 
the  making  of  it. 

CHAP.  XXXIII. — THE   INTERCESSION   OF    MOSES. 

XXXIII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  depart  and  go  up  hence,  thou  and  the 
people  which  thou  hast  brought  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  unto  the  land  which  I 
sware  unto  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  saying,  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  it.  2.  And 
I  will  send  an  angel  before  thee,  and  I  will  drive  out  the  Kenaanite,  the  Amorite,  and 
the  Hittite.  and  the  Perizzite,  the  Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite  :  3.  Unto  a  land  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey  ;  for  I  will  not  go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee,  because  thou  art  a 
stiff-necked  people,  lest  I  consume  thee  in  the  way.  4.  And  the  people  heard  this 
evil  saying,  and  mourned  ;  and  no  man  put  on  his  bravery.  5.  And  the  Lokd  said 
unto  Moses,  say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  Ye  are  a  stiff-necked  people  ;  in  one  moment, 
■were  I  to  go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee,  I  should  destroy  thee  :  and  now  put  oft'  thy 


EXODUS  XXXIII.   1-11.  215, 

bravery  from  thee,  and.  I  shall  know  what  to  do  nnto  thee.  6,  And  the  sons  of  Israel 
stripped  off  their  braver}^  afar  from  the  mount  Horeb. 

7.  And  Moses  took  the  tent  and  pitched  it  for  him  without  the  camp,  afar  off  from 
the  camp,  and  called  it  the  tent  of  meeting  :  and  it  came  to  pass  that  e\eij  one  that 
sought  the  Lord,  went  out  unto  the  tent  of  meeting  which  was  without  the  camp. 
8.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  when  Moses  went  out  unto  the  tent  all  the  people  rose 
up,  and  stood  every  man  at  his  tent  door  ;  and  they  looked  after  Moses  until  he  went 
into  the  tent.  9.  And  it  came  to  pass  as  Moses  went  into  the  tent  the  pillar  of  cloud 
came  down,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  tent  :  and  he  spake  with  Moses.  10.  And 
all  the  people  saw  the  pillar  of  cloud  stand  at  the  tent  door  :  and  all  the  people  arose 
and  bowed  down,  every  man  in  his  tent  door.  11.  And  the  Loed  spake  unto  Moses, 
face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend  ;  and  he  returned  to  the  camp,  and 
his  minister  Joshua,  son  of  Nun,  a  young  man,  moved  not  out  of  the  tent.  H  50. 

12.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Loed,  Behold,  thou  saj^est  unto  me.  Bring  up  this 
people,  and  thou  hast  not  let  me  know  whom  thou  wilt  send  with  me  :  and  thou  hast 
said,  I  know  thee  by  name,  and  thou  hast  also  found  grace  in  mine  eyes.  13.  And 
now,  if  I  now  have  found  grace  in  thine  eyes,  shew  me  now  thy  way,  and  let  me  know 
thee,  that  I  may  find  grace  in  thine  eyes  ;  and  observe  that  this  nation  is  thy  people. 
14.  And  he  said.  My  presence  shall  go,  and  I  will  give  thee  rest.  15.  i^nd  he  said 
unto  him.  If  thy  presence  go  not,  carry  us  not  up  hence.  16.  And  wherein  shall  it  be 
known  indeed  that  I  and  th}^  people  have  found  grace  in  thine  ej^es,  if  not  in  thj  going 
with  us  ?  and  I  and  thy  people  shall  be  distinguished  from  all  the  people  that  is  upon 
the  face  of  the  ground.  IT  51. 

17.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  This  thing  also  that  thou  hast  spoken  will  I 
do  ;  for  thou  Hast  found  grace  in  mine  eyes,  and  I  know  thee  by  name.  18.  And  he 
said,  Show  me  now  thy  glory.  19.  And  he  said,  I  will  make  all  my  goodness  to  pass 
before  thee,  and  I  will  proclaim  the  name  of  Loed  before  thee  :  and  I  will  be  gracious 
to  whom  I  will  be  gracious,  and  show  mercy  to  whom  I  will  show  mercy.  20.  And 
he  said.  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face  ;  for  no  man  shall  see  me  and  live.  21.  And  the 
Loed  said,  Lo,  there  is  a  place  by  me,  and  thou  shalt  stand  upon  the  rock,  22.  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  while  my  glory  passeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  in  a  clift  of  the 
rock  :  and  I  will  cover  thee  with  my  hand  while  I  pass  by.  23.  And  I  will  take  away 
my  hand,  and  thou  shalt  see  my  back  ;  but  my  face  shall  not  be  seen.  II  52. 

Moses  receives  a  commission  to  conduct  the  peojole  to  the  land  destined  for  them, 
with  the  promise  of  the  divine  aid,  but  without  the  divine  presence  amidst  them. 
He  accordingly  removes  the  tent  where  the  Lord  met  him  out  of  the  camp.  He  en- 
treats the  Lord  to  go  M'ith  him  and  shew  him  his  glory. 

1-6.  The  commission  to  Moses  again  refers  to  the  people  "  whom  thou  hast  brought 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim."  The  Lord  does  not  yet  choose  to  acknowledge  them 
as  his  own.  They  have  been  separated  by  a  new  transgression,  and  they  have  not 
yet  returned  with  penitence  or  borne  any  fruit  meet  for  rejDentance.  Nevertheless, 
his  i^romise  stands  sure.  He  will  send  his  angel  (32  :  34)  before  them.  But  he  will 
not  go  in  the  midst  of  them,  as  he  had  been  hitherto  doing  and  intended  to  do  (25  :  8), 
lest  he  should  consume  them  in  their  perversity.  4-6.  This  unfavorable  message 
affects  the  people  with  sorrow,  and  they  begin  to  lay  aside  all  gayety  in  dress.  While 
they  are  in  this  state  of  feeling  the  Lord  sends  a  message  to  them  by  Moses  requiring 
them  to  put  off  their  bravery  of  apparel,  that  he  may  know  what  to  do  with  them. 
This  was  a  strong  affirmation  of  their  perversity.  In  one  moment  were  I  to  go  up.  If  I 
were  to  go  into  the  midst  of  thee,  I  must  in  that  moment  consume  thee.  But  there 
is  a  hint  of  mercy  in  the  following  words  sufficient  to  encourage  them  in  their  in- 
cipient repentance.  Afar  from  the  mount  Horeb,  retiring  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord 
to  their  tents. 

7-11.  And  Moses  took  the  tent.  The  tent  here  is  not  the  sanctuary  or  sacred  tent  of  the 
Lord,  which  was  not  yet  constructed,  nor  any  temporary  dwelling  of  the  Lord,  as  he  only 


216  THE   INTERCESSION   OF   MOSES. 

appeared  hitherto  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  but  simply  the  tent  or  pavilion  of 
Moses,  in  which  he  oificia%  abode.  This  he  now  pitched  outside  the  camj)  at  some 
distance,  and  called  it  the  tent  of  meeting,  because,  like  the  tabernacle,  it  was  the  place 
where  God  met  with  him.  The  object  of  this  removal  was  to  maintain  intercourse 
with  the  Lord,  when  he  would  no  longer  manifest  himself  amidst  the  people  who 
had  broken  the  covenant.  Moses  had  not  transgressed,  and  was  still  in  fellowship 
with  God.  He  will  avail  himself  of  this  privilege  to  bring  about  a  renewal  of  f riendlj'- 
relations  between  God  and  the  people.  The  separation  had  also  the  effect  of  setting 
before  the  eyes  of  the  people  not  only  the  continued  fellowship  of  Moses  with  God, 
but  also  their  own  present  estrangement  from  him.  And  now  any  one  who  sought 
thB  Lord  for  counsel,  judgment,  or  aid,  went  out  to  the  tent  of  meeting.  8.  The  peo- 
ple stood  up  with  reverent  interest  to  behold  Moses  going  from  the  camp  to  the  tent 
of  meeting  to  discharge  his  official  functions.  9.  When  Moses  was  in  the  tent  the 
pillar  of  cloud  came  down  and  stood  at  the  tent  door,  to  manifest  in  the  most  solemn 
manner  that  God  was  with  Moses.  The  wondering  people  bowed  down  with  devout 
reverence  when  they  beheld  the  supernatural  signs  of  the  divine  presence.  11.  The 
Lord  spake  with  Moses,  not  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  but  in  the  j)illar  standing  at  his 
door, /ace  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  with  his  friend.  He  beheld  not  the  divine  essence 
(vs.  20),  but  such  a  vision  of  his  face  as  is  possible  for  a  man  to  behold  and  live. 
When  Moses  was  absent  from  the  tent,  Joshua  his  minister  took  his  place. 

12-16.  The  mind  of  Moses  is  in  a  state  of  anxious  inquiry,  and  he  now  comes  be- 
fore the  Lord  to  have  all  his  pressing  perplexities  solved.  Behold.  This  is  a  matter 
of  intense  moment  to  me.  Thou  sayest  unto  me,  Bring  up  this  people.  I  feel  the  weight 
of  this  charge  more  than  ever,  in  consequence  of  this  breach  of  the  newly-made  and 
willingly-accepted  covenant.  This  has  interrupted  the  happy  relation  in  which  the 
people  stood  to  thee.  I  do  not  yet  tnllj  comprehend  the  new  relation  in  which  they 
are  to  stand.  (1.)  Thou  speakest  of  an  angel  who  is  to  go  before  us  And  thou  hast 
not  let  me  know  whom  thou  wilt  send  with  me.  Who  is  this  angel  ?  Let  me  have  some 
personal  knowledge  of  him,  that  my  mind  maybe  at  ease.  Thou  hast  said,  I  know  thee 
by  name,  and  thou  hast  also  found  grace  in  mine  eyes.  Moses  is  personally  known  to  God 
as  one  whom  he  has  accepted  and  appointed  to  be  the  leader  of  his  people.  He 
therefore  humbly  prays  to  be  informed  how  this  angel  stands  to  God  and  to  himself. 
Much  peace  and  comfort  will  result  to  him  from  this  knowledge.  (2.)  The  way  in 
which  this  people  are  henceforth  to  be  dealt  with  he  desires  to  understand.  They 
have  been  heedless  and'  perverse.  They  may  be  so  again.  He  wants  to 
penetrate  more  thoroughly  into  the  great  principle  on  which  their  salvation  rests 
with  certainty  amidst  the  uncertainty  of  their  wills.  Shew  me  thy  loay  of  salva- 
tion, of  deliverance  and  guidance  for  this  people  to  the  promised  end.  And  let  me 
know  thee.  For  all  is  in  thee— the  angel  guide,  the  certain  way.  That  I  may  find  grace 
in  thine  eyes,  present,  constant,  everlasting  grace.  (3.)  Another  word  of  thine  has  per- 
plexed me.  Thou  callest  the  people  mine,  whom  I  have  brought  up  But  observe 
that  this  nation  is  thy  people  That  it  is  the  plain  undeniable  truth,  far  transcending 
my  merely  ministerial  part  in  their  redemption.  I  beseech  thee  to  look  at  this,  and 
acknowledge  it.  Such  is  this  wondrous  prayer  of  faith  springing  up  from  the  heart  of 
Moses. 

14-16.  A  single  clear  and  cheering  sentence  encourages  Moses.  My  presence  shall  go, 
1  will  give  thee  rest  My  face  or  presence  is  of  the  same  import  as  myself.  Hence  it  is 
simply  added,  I  will  give  thee  rest.     The  angel,  then,   is  the  angel  of  his  presence 


EXODUS  XXXIV.  217 

(Isa.  63  :  9),  in  whom  is  his  name  (23  :  20),  that  is,  the  Lord  himself  in  angelic  ofiBce 
^and  presence.  Moses  seizes  on  the  precious  word.  If  thy  presence  go  not,  carry  us  not 
up  hence.  It  is  not  a  mere  angel,  but  Jehovah,  the  angel  of  the  covenant  (Mai.  3:1), 
whom  he  desires  to  have  with  him.  This  is  the  only  incontestable  evidence  that 
they  had  found  favor  with  God.  1  and  thy  people.  He  now  associates  himself  with 
the  people,  and  the  people  with  God.  The  presence  of  the  Lord  distinguishes  them 
from  all  the  people  on  the  whole  earth. 

17-23.  The  Lord  now  fully  concedes  the  earnest  request  of  Moses.  He  will 
go  with  them.  He  acknowledges  them  to  be  his  people.  The  only  other  thing 
that  remained  on  the  mind  of  Moses  was  the  "  way"  of  the  Lord  regarding 
mercy  and  truth,  righteousness  and  peace.  To  show  mercy  and  yet  do  justly  ; 
to  magnify  grace  and  holiness  at  the  same  time  ;  to  bestow  a  perpetuity  of  blessing 
on  a  people  wavering  now  and  again  into  disobedience,  was  a  problem  that  seemed 
to  task  the  highest  intelligence,  to  transcend  the  ordinary  ways  of  providence,  and 
call  into  exercise  some  inner  and  higher  reaches  of  the  Eternal  mind.  Moved  by  a 
wish  to  do  his  duty  with  intelligence,  Moses  ardently  desires  some  insight  into  this 
profound  mysteiy,  and  he  feels  that  it  touches  the  very  centre  of  the  divine  nature, 
and  involves  the  sublimest  manifestations  of  his  glory.  Hence  his  last  and  grandest 
petition.  Show  me  now  thy  glory,  is  the  fitting  close  to  his  prevailing  intercession.  It 
is  also  granted,  as  far  as  man  is  capable  here  of  receiving  such  a  boon.  19.  All  my 
goodness.  The  goodness  of  God,  his  moral  character,  is  the  perfection  of  his  glory. 
The  name  of  the  Lord.  The  name  is  the  manifest  and  revealed  nature.  The  Lord  is 
Jehovah,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  the  Keeper  of  covenant,  the  Performer  of  promise. 
I  icill  have  been  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious.  Here  is  discriminating  and  determi- 
nate gi'ace.  It  is  discriminating  ;  some  are  taken  and  others  left.  It  is  determinate  ; 
the  chosen  are  kept  from  the  evil  for  ever.  This  sentence  is  reiterated  in  other 
words.  It  solves  some  of  Moses's  difficulties.  Whatever  may  befall,  a  remnant  will 
be  saved.  20.  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face.  This  separate  sentence  is  emphatic  and 
essential.  My  face  is  my  direct,  immediate,  intrinsic  self.  The  essential  jpower  of 
God  is  irresistible  ;  the  essential  wisdom  inscrutable  to  the  creature.  The  essential 
holiness  of  the  Almighty  and  All-wise  is  insupportable  to  that  which  is  tainted  with 
guilt.  Hence  man  shall  not  see  him  and  live.  21-23.  My  back  is  my  averted,  medi- 
ate, extrinsic  self,  visible  to  man  in  my  works,  my  word,  and  my  personal  manifesta- 
tions to  my  people.  The  place  near  the  Lord  whel'e  Moses  was  to  stand,  the  clift  of 
the  rock  in  which  he  was  to  be  put,  the  hand  which  was  to  cover  him  while  the  Lord 
in  his  glory  passed  by,  and  to  be  taken  away  that  he  might  see  the  Lord  when  his  face 
was  averted,  are  the  simple  elements  of  a  real  scene,  in  which  the  Lord  conveyed  to 
the  sense  and  the  reason  of  Moses  the  deep  things  of  his  glorious  grace  in  a  manner 
which  was  exactly  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  inquirer.  Whether  the  clift  of  the 
rock  was  the  grotto  under  the  ruined  mosque  on  the  top  of  Jebel  Musa  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  inquire. 

CHAP,   XXXIV. — THE    COVENANT    RENEWED. 

XXXIV.  1.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone  like  the 
former  :  and  I  will  write  upon  the  tables  the  words  that  were  on  the  former  tables, 
which  thou  brakest.  2.  And  be  ready  in  the  morning  :  and  come  up  in  the  morning 
iinto  Mount  Sinai,  and  present  thyself  there  to  me  on  the  top  of  the  mount.  3.  And 
no  man  shall  come  up  with  thee,  nor  let  any  man  be  seen  in  all  the  mount  :  nor  let 


218  THE   COVENANT   RENEWED. 

the  flocks  or  herds  feed  before  this  mount.  4.  And  he  hewed  two  tables  of  stone  like 
the  former,  and  Moses  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  went  uj)  into  mount  Sinai, 
as  the  LoKD  commanded  him  :  and  he  took  in  his  hand  the  two  tables  of  stone,  « 

5.  And  the  Lokd  came  down  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him  there  :  and  he  pro- 
claimed the  name  of  the  Loed.  6.  And  the  Lord  passed  by  before  his  face,  and  pro- 
claimed, the  Lokd,  the  Lokd  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering  and  abundant 
in  mercy  and  truth  :  7.  Keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  trans- 
gression and  sin  :  and  he  will  by  no  means  acquit  the  guilty,  visiting  the  iniquity  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  sons  and  upon  the  sons'  sons,  unto  the  third  and  to  the  fourth 
generation.  8.  And  Moses  made  haste,  and  bended  toward  the  earth  and  bowed 
down.  9.  And  he  said.  If  now  I  have  found  grace  in  thine  eyes,  O  Lord,  let  the  Lord 
now  go  in  the  midst  of  us  :  for  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people  ;  and  thou  wilt  pardon  our 
iniquity  and  our  sin,  and  take  as  for  thine  inheritance.  10.  And  he  said,  Lo,  I  make 
a  covenant  ;  before  all  thy  people  I  will  do  marvels,  which  have  not  been  enacted  in 
all  the  earth  nor  in  all  the  nations  :  and  all  the  people  among  which  thou  art  shall 
see  the  work  of  the  Lokd  ;  for  it  is  a  terrible  thing  that  I  will  do  with  thee. 

11.  Observe  thou  that  which  I  command  thee  this  day  :  lo,  I  drive  out  before  thee, 
the  Amorite,  and  the  Kenaanite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  and  the  Hivite, 
and  the  Jebusite.  12.  Take  heed  to  thyself,  lest  thou  make  a  covenant  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  land  whither  thou  goest,  lest  it  be  a  snare  in  the  midst  of  thee.  13. 
For  ye  shall  destroy  their  altars,  and  break  their  pillars,  and  cut  down  their  statues. 
14.  Por  thou  shalt  bow  down  to  no  other  God  :  for  the  Lokd,  whose  name  is  Jealous, 
is  a  jealous  God.  15.  Lest  thou  make  a  covenant  with  the  inhabitant  of  the  land,  and 
they  go  a  whoring  after  their  gods,  and  sacrifice  unto  their  gods,  and  one  call  thee, 
and  thou  eat  of  his  sacrifice  ;  16.  And  thou  take  of  their  daughters  unto  thy  sons,  and 
their  daughters  go  a  whoring  after  their  gods,  and  make  thy  sons  go  a  whoring  after 
their  gods.  17.  Molten  gods  thou  shalt  not  make  thee.  18.  The  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  shalt  thou  keep  :  seven  days  thou  shalt  eat  unleavened  bread,  as  I  commanded 
thee  in  the  set  time  of  the  month  Abib  :  for  in  the  month  Abib  thou  camest  out  of 
Mizraim.  19.  All  that  openeth  the  womb  is  mine  ;  and  all  thy  cattle,  the  firstling  of 
ox  or  sheep,  that  is  a  male.  20.  And  the  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt  redeem  with  a 
lamb  ;  and  if  thou  redeem  it  not,  then  shalt  thou  break  its  neck  :  all  the  first-born  of 
.  thy  sons  thou  shalt  redeem,  and  none  shall  appear  before  me  empty.  21.  Six  days 
thou  shalt  labor,  and  on  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest  :  in  ploughing  and  in  reaping 
time  thou  shalt  rest.  22.  And  thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  weeks,  of  the  first-fruits  of 
wheat  harvest,  and  the  feast  of  ingathering  at  the  turn  of  the  year.  23.  Three  times 
in  the  year  shall  all  your  males  appear  before  the  Lord,  the  Lokd  God  of  Israel.  24. 
For  I  will  dispossess  the  nations  before  thee,  and  enlarge  thy  border  :  and  no  man 
shall  desire  thy  land,  when  thou  goest  up  to  appear  before  the  Lord  thy  God  three 
times  in  the  year.  25.  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  thy  sacrifice  with  leaven  :  and 
the  sacrifice  of  the  passover  feast  shall  not  be  left  unto  the  morning.  26.  The  first  of 
the  first-fruits  of  thy  ground  thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  house  of  the  Loed  thy  God  : 
thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's  milk.  §  53. 

27.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write  thou  these  words  :  for  after  the  tenor  of 
these  words  I  have  made  a  covenant  with  thee  and  with  Israel.  28.  And  he  was  there 
with  the  Lokd  forty  days  and  forty  nights  ;  he  ate  not  bread  nor  drank  water  :  and 
he  wrote  upon  the  tables  the  words  of  the  covenant,  the  ten  words. 

29.  And  it  came  to  j^ass  when  Moses  went  down  from  Mount  Sinai,  that  the  two 
tables  of  testimony  were  in  Moses's  hand  when  he  went  down  from  the  mount  ;  and 
Moses  knew  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  when  he  talked  with  him.  30.  And 
Aaron  and  all  the  sons  of  Israel  saw  Moses,  and  lo,  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  :  and 
they  were  afraid  to  come  nigh  him.  31.  And  Moses  called  them,  and  Aaron  and  all 
the  princes  in  the  assembly  returned  to  him  :  and  Moses  talked  with  them.  32.  And 
afterward  all  the  sons  of  Israel  came  nigh  :  and  he  commanded  them  all  that  the  Lokd 
had  spoken  with  him  in  Mount  Sinai.  33.  And  Moses  ceased  from  speaking  with 
them,  and  he  put  a  vail  upon  his  face.  34.  And  when  Moses  went  in  before  the  Lokd 
to  sjoeak  with  him,  he  took  the  vail  off,  until  he  came  out  :  and  he  came  out  and  spake 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel  that  which  he  was  commanded.  35.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  saw 
the  face  of  Moses,  that  the  skin  of  Moses's  face  shone  :  and  Moses  put  the  vail  upon 
his  face  again,  until  he  went  in  to  speak  with  him. 


EXODUS  XXXIV.   1-10.  219 

The  order  is  now  given  to  Moses  to  return  to  the  mount,  when  the  Lord  proclaims 
himself  the  God  of  mercy  and  justice,  and  renews  the  covenant,  with  certain  injunc- 
tions suitable  to  the  occasion. 

1-4.  Heio  thee.  The  former  tables  were  made  by  God  himself.  As  they  had  been 
broken  by  Moses  in  the  outburst  of  his  righteous  indignation  against  the  idolatry  of 
the  people,  the  Lord  directs  him  to  prepare  a  second  set  of  tables,  on  which  he  prom- 
ises to  write  a  second  copy  of  the  law.  3.  And  no  man  shall  come  up  with  thee.  On  the 
former  occasion  the  elders,  with  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  accompanied  him  a  certain 
way  up  the  mount,  and  Joshua,  apparently,  to  the  edge  of  the  cloud  that  was  on  the 
top.  But  no  man  went  with  him  into  the  cloud,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  lawgiving 
(19  :  12),  neither  the  people  nor  the  cattle  were  permitted  to  appear  on  the  mount. 

5-10.  When  Moses  went  up  with  tne  new  tables  the  Lord  vouchsafes  to  come  down 
and  meet  with  him.  In  fulfilment  of  his  promise  he  proclaims  before  him  the  name 
of  the  Lordj)  Tlie  Lord,  the  Creator  and  Covenant-keeper.  This  name  is  here  rendered 
emphatic  by  being  repeated.  God,  the  Eternal  and  Almighty.  Then  follow  seven 
significant  characteristics,  three  pairs  referring  to  his  mercy,  and  a  single  one  affirm, 
ing  his  justice.  Merciful  and  gracious,  disposed  to  relieve  suffering  and  dispense  hap- 
piness. Long-suffering  and  abundant  in  mercy  and  truth,  having  long  patience  and  much 
kindness  and  truthfulness  in  store  for  the  penitent.  The  former  pair  speaks  of  the 
general  tendency,  the  latter  of  the  long  duration  and  vast  plenitude  of  the  divine  com- 
passion and  constancy.  This  serves  to  calm  the  solicitude  of  Moses,  brooding  in 
sadness  on  the  recent  perversity  of  the  people.  Keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving 
iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin.  This  speaks  at  length  not  of  disposition  or  its 
amount,  but  of  the  certain  and  final  application  of  mercy  and  forgiveness  to  all  gen- 
erations of  those  who  seek  it  with  penitence.  Sin  is  moral  aberration  ;  transgression 
involves  breach  of  trust  ;  and  iniquity  implies  perversity  of  conduct.  The  last  ap- 
pears the  most  aggravated  ;  yet  all  these  forms  of  sin  he  may  and  will  forgive  the  re- 
turning penitent.  Yet  at  the  same  time  the  proclamation  runs,  he  will  by  no  means 
acquit.  And  as  a  special  case  of  the  unalterable  principle  of  rectitude,  he  visits  the 
iniquity  of  the  impenitent,  even  though  it  descend  to  the  son  from  the  father  (20  :  5). 
In  the  case  of  those  forgiven,  the  guilt  that  cannot  be  acquitted  falls  on  the  head  of  a 
voluntary  and  accepted  substitute.  The  perplexity  of  Moses  is  now  so  far  solved, 
that  he  sees  mercy  secured  and  perpetuated  in  some  to  all  generations,  while  others 
will  obstinately  refuse  it  and  inevitably  perish.  He  can  now  repose  in  tranquil  con- 
fidence on  the  purpose  of  him  who  keeps  mercy  for  a  thousand  generations  of  them 
that  love  him  (20  :  6).  This  purpose  determines  the  perpetuity  of  the  church  on  earth, 
though  many  from  time  to  time  fall  away.  He  does  not  tell  us,  he  could  not  convey 
in  words,  what  he  saw  when  the  Lord  passed  by.  But  he  records  for  our  comfort  the 
sublime  proclamation  which  he  heard,  containing  the  substance  of  that  revelation 
which  was  then  made  to  him  of  the  glory  of  God.  Filled  with  wonder  and  solemn 
awe,  he  made  haste,  bent  his  head  and  bowed  his  body  in  profoundest  reverence. 

9,  10.  Moses  now  repeats  his  already  effectual  intercession.  0  Lord.  He  addresses 
God  now  as  the  moral  Governor  and  Judge,  to  whom  it  pertains  to  dispense  pardon. 
For  His  a  stiff  necked  people.  The /or  here  applies  not  to  the  first  clause  only,  but  to 
the  whole  sentence  following.  It  is  a  stiff-necked  people  whom  thou  wilt  pardon  and 
make  thine  inheritance.  Therefore,  go  with  us.  Oar  iniquity  and  our  sin.  Moses  here 
identifies  himself  with  the  people,  and  entreats  forgiveness  for  the  common  guilt  of 
all.     His  conduct  in  this  whole  transaction  is  actuated  by  motives  purely  benign.     10. 


220  INSTKUCTIONS  REPEATED. 

The  covenant  is  now  restored.  It  is  to  be  celebrated  by  marvels  of  unparalleled 
power.  Enacted,  effected  by  no  less  than  creative  power.  The  whole  people  will  be- 
hold the  work  of  the  Lord,  which  will  be  terrible  in  its  judgments  upon  the  adversaries. 

11-26.  Here  a  series  of  admonitions  suitable  to  the  occasion  'is  repeated  and  en- 
forced. 11-16.  No  treaty  is  to  be  made  with  the  old  inhabitants  of  the  land,  as  it 
would  involve  a  compliance,  or  a  temptation  to  comply,  with  their  idolatrous  customs 
(23  :  23,  24).  The  list  of  nations  here  given  differs  from  that  in  3  : 8,  by  giving  the 
first  place  to  the  Amorites,  with  whom  the  people  are  to  come  first  in  contact  (23  :  23). 
Lest  it  he  a  snare  in  the  midst  of  thee,  insinuating  a  new  kind  of  apostasy  from  thy  own 
God,  Their  pillars,  the  monumental  stones  connected  with  their  idols.  Their  statues, 
the  wooden  posts  or  rudely  carved  figures  of  Astarte,  the  female  moon-deity  of  the 
Kenaanites.  Whose  name  is  Jealous.  The  figure  of  marriage,  applied  to  the  covenant 
relation  of  God  and  his  people  (20  :  5)  is  now  carried  a  step  further.  The  worship 
of  idols  or  false  gods  is  described  as  fornication  or  adultery,  a  term  peculiarly  appro- 
priate to  rites  that  were  grossly  licentious  in  themselves,  as  well  as  acts  of  high 
treason  against  the  only  true  God.  Intermarriage  v/ith  these  votaries  of  idolatry  and 
uncleanness  is  expressly  forbidden. 

17-26.  Molten  gods  (20  :  23)  are  again  emphatically  prohibited.  The  feast  of  un- 
leavened bread  (12),  the  sanctification  of  the  first-born  (13),  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  (16),  the  other  annual  festivals  (23  :  10-19)  are  then  called  to  mind,  and  their 
observance  reinforced.  As  they  are  connected  with  leading  events  in  the  national 
history,  and  are  eminently  characteristic  of  the  national  worship,  they  are  well  fitted 
to  awaken  the  gratitude  and  keep  alive  the  faith  of  the  ransomed  people.  24.  A 
promise  is  given  that  their  lands  will  not  be  coveted  or  seized  when  they  are  gone  to 
appear  at  the  great  festivals  before  the  Lord.  25,  26.  Certain  minute  but  significant 
directions  are  here  reiterated.  Leaven,  as  the  emblem  of  moral  corruption,  is  to  be 
absent  from  their  offerings.  The  passover  lamb,  as  the  type  of  atonement,  is  to  be 
all  necessary,  as  well  as  all-sufficient  for  its  immediate  use.  The  first  of  the  first- 
fruits  is  to  be  dedicated  to  the  Lord,  as  the  beginning  and  earnest  of  all  that  we  have. 
The  mother' s  milk,  that  which  is  given  with  maternal  kindness  for  nourishment,  is 
not  to  be  coldly  turned  into  a  means  of  destruction.  These  four  secondary  regula- 
tions, constantly  whispering  in  our  ears  that  the  service  of  God  must  be  sincere, 
prompt,  entire,  and  tender,  are  Avell  calculated  to  cultivate  in  the  soul  a  growing  abhor- 
rence of  idolatry,  with  all  its  inherent  and  attendant  abominations. 

27,  28.  Write  thou  these  words,  evidently  the  record  of  this  interview  and  all  that  was 
said  on  the  occasion  ;  as  he  wrote  the  book  of  the  original  covenant  (24  :  4-7).  These 
are  to  be  6n  record,  as  the  special  conditions  of  the  civil  part  of  the  covenant.  Forty 
days  and  forty  nights.  The  descendants  of  Israel  left  Egypt  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  first 
month  (12).  On  the  first  of  the  third  month  (19  : 1)  they  reached  the  Wilderness  of 
Sinai,  and  probably  on  the  sixth  the  law  was  proclaimed  on  the  mount.  On  the 
seventh  the  covenant  was  ratified,  and  Moses  and  the  elders  ascended  some  part  of  the 
mount  (24  : 4).  The  seventh  day  after,  apparently,  and  in  that  case  on  the  fourteenth 
of  the  third  month,  Moses  was  called  and  entered  into  the  cloud.  Forty  days  after, 
or  on  the  twenty-third  of  the  fourth  month,  he  descends  to  witness  the  festival  in 
honor  of  the  golden  calf.  The  Talmud,  however,  places  this  act  of  apostasy  on  the 
17th  of  Tammuz,  and  therein  agrees  with  many  interpreters,  who  include  the  six  days 
during  which  Moses  waited  before  he  was  summoned  into  the  cloud  surrounding  the 
divine  presence  in  the  forty  days  of  his  abode  on  the  mount.     On  the  day  after 


EXODUS  xxxiY.  29-35.  221 

(32  :  30)  Moses  makes  intercession  for  the  people,  removes  tlie  official  tent  from  the 
camp,  and  receives  a  favorable  answer  from  the  Lord.  The  next  day,  apparently 
(34  :  2),  is  the  first  of  the  second  forty  days  spent  on  the  mount.  Allowing  twenty- 
nine  days  and  thirty  days  for  the  next  two  months,  we  arrive  at  the  fifth  of  the  sixth 
month,  as  the  day  on  which  he  may  have  descended  the  second  time.  Here,  again, 
Jewish  tradition  assumes  that  he  ascended  on  the  first  of  the  sixth  month  and  came 
down  on  the  tenth  of  the  seventh,  which  is  the  day  of  atonement.  But  there  seems 
to  be  no  reason  for  allowing  an  interval  of  at  least  thirtj^-six  days  to  elapse  between 
the  first  descent  and  the  second  ascent.  Nor  is  there  anything  suitable  in  the  people 
afflicting  their  souls  on  the  day  of  Moses's  return  from  the  mount  ;  and  there  is  cer- 
tainly no  allusion  to  the  day  of  atonement  in  the  narrative.  And  further,  only  five 
months  and  a  half  are  left  for  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle,  which  was  finished 
within  the  first  year.  Josephus  assigns  seven  months  for  this  undertaking,  which  is 
a  short  enough  period.  If  Moses  came  down  on  the  fifth  of  the  sixth  month,  we  have 
nearly  seven  months,  and  if  his  descent  was  six  days  earlier,  or  on  the  last  day  of  the 
fifth  month,  we  have  precisely  seven  months  for  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle 
and  all  its  appurtenances.  And  he  icrote.  From  the  first  verse  we  learn  that  it  was 
God  himself  who  wrote  th6  ten  words  on  the  two  tables  which  Moses  had  prepared 
(Deut.  10  :  4). 

29-35.  The  glory  on  the  face  of  Moses.  Moses  knew  not.  He  was  not  conscious  of 
this  appearance  in  himself,  which  was  obvious  to  others.  That  the  skin  of  Ms  face  shone, 
sent  forth  rays  of  light.  The  original  word  signifies  to  spring  forth  as  horns,  and 
hence  the  Vulgate  has  esse  cornutam,  and  the  painters  have  drawn  Moses  with  horns. 
The  Lord  had  passed  by  him.  He  had  even  stood  with  him  and  talked  with  him.  So 
much  of  his  glory  had  shone  upon  the  senses  and  the  face  of  Moses  as  mortal  man  was 
able  to  bear.  30.  This  extraordinary  lustre  struck  Aaron  and  the  people  with  wonder 
and  apprehension.  They  were  afraid  to  come  nigh  him,  as  one  who  still  bore  the  con- 
spicuous marks  of  his  long  converse  with  God.  31,  32.  When  he  called  them,  however, 
Aaron  and  the  princes  of  the  assembly  approached,  and  he  conversed  with  them.  The 
people  then  drew  nigh,  and  he  gave  them  in  command  all  that  the  Lord  had  communi- 
cated to  him.  33-35.  When  his  discourse  was  finished /ie_p^'^«  "^'^^^  on /^is/oce.  When 
his  public  and  official  part  was  performed,  he  vails  the  dazzling  lustre  of  his  face,  not 
only  in  modest  reserve,  but  also  for  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  private  inter- 
course. When,  however,  he  went  in  before  the  Lord,  he  withdrew  the  vail  until  he 
had  received  his  commands  and  delivered  them  to  the  people.  Hence  it  was  his  cus- 
tom to  resume  the  vail  until  he  went  in  to  speak  with  the  Lord.  The  place  of  com- 
munication was,  we  may  suppose,  the  separate  tent  of  meeting,  until  the  tabernacle 
was  erected.  The  awe-struck  multitude  had  here  a  conspicuous  sign  before  their  eyes 
that  Moses  was  the  veritable  serv^ant  of  the  Most  High  God,  the  prime  minister  of  the 
old  covenant.  The  shrinking  of  their  gaze  from  this  borrowed  splendor  demonstrated 
to  them  that  they  were  not  yet  prepared  for  the  higher  manifestations  of  the  divine 
glory  itself.  The  vail  on  the  face  of  Moses,  like  the  vail  before  the  mercy-seat,  taught 
them  that  the  present  economy  was  adapted  to  the  weakness  of  their  spiritual  vision  ; 
while  so  much  of  the  brightness  shone  through  as  to  satisfy  their  present  needs  and 
capacities,  and  give  them  a  foreglance  and  earnest  of  what  awaited  them  in  the  ad- 
vancing stages  of  their  spiritual  train  ng  (2  Cor.  3  :  7-18). 

Thus  ends  this  sudden  outbreak  of  idolatry  and  sad  interruption  of  spiritual  pros- 
perity in  a  new  and  unexpected  display  of  the  divine  mercy  vouchsafed  on  the  in- 


222  PREPARATIOiq"S    FOR   MAKIKG   THE   TABERITACLE. 

tercession  of  Moses  to  the  chastened  and  repentant  people.  The  breach  being 
healed,  and  the  covenant  restored  with  even  additional  splendor,  the  construction  of 
the  tabernacle  will  now  proceed.* 


XV.     THE  TABERNACLE   MADE   AND   SET  UP.— Ex.  35-40. 

CHAP.  XXXV. — PKEPARATIONS  FOR  MAKING  THE  TABERNACLE. 

22.  nn  ^^ooTc,  clasx),  "I'ing ;  used  for  female  ornament,  and  for  an  instrmnent  in 
the  nose  of  a  bull  for  controlling  it.  ciJ  ^  ^^-^  or  earring  (Gen.  24  :  47  ;  35  :  4)  ; 
r.  hind  or  lace.  ny^JO  ^  Qnger-7'ing ;  r.  dip.  112^3  little  hall,  dead,  necklace  of 
heads. 

XXXV.  1.  And  Moses  gathered  all  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  said 
unto  them,  These  are  the  words  which  the  Lobd  commanded  us  to  do.  2.  Six  days 
shall  work  be  done,  and  on  the  seventh  day  shall  be  for  you  a  holy  Sabbath  of  rest  to 
the  LoED  :  whosoever  doeth  work  therein  shall  die.  3.  Y.e  shall  not  kindle  a  tire  in 
all  your  dwellings  on  the  Sabbath  day.  ^  54. 

4.  And  Moses  spake  unto  all  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  This  is  the 
word  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded,  saying,  5.  Take  from  among  you  an  offering 
unto  the  Lord  ;  whosoever  is  willing  of  heart  shall  bring  it,  an  offering  of  the  Lord  : 
gold  and  silver  and  brass  ;  6.  And  blue  and  purple  and  crimson  ;  and  fine  linen  and 
goats'  hair  ;  7.  And  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  badgers'  skins  ;  and  shittah  wood  ;  8. 
And  oil  for  the  light  ;  and  spices  for  the  anointing  oil,  and  for  the  incense  of  per- 
fumes ;  9.  And  onyx  stones  and  stones  for  setting,  for  the  ephod  and  for  the  breast- 
plate. 10.  And  every  one  wise  of  heart  among  you  shall  come  and  make  all  that  the 
Lord  hath  commanded.  11.  The  tabernacle,  its  tent  and  its  covering;  its  taches 
and  its  boards,  its  bars,  its  pillars,  and  its  sockets  ;  12.  The  ark  and  its  staves,^  the 
mercy-seat,  and  the  vail  of  covering  ;  13.  The  table  and  its  staves,  and  all  its  vessels, 
and  the  shew-bread  ;  14.  And  the  candlestick  for  the  light,  and  its  vessels 
and  its  lamps,  and  the  oil  for  the  lights  ;  15.  And  the  altar  of  incense  and  its  staves, 
and  the  anointing  oil  and  the  incense  of  perfumes,  and  the  cover  for  the  door  at  the 
entrance  of  the  tabernacle  ;  16.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering  and  the  brazen  grate  for 
it,  its  staves  and  all  its  vessels  ;  the  laver  and  its  stand  ;  17.  The  hangings  of  the 
court,  its  pillars  and  their  sockets,  and  the  cover  for  the  door  of  the  court  ;  18.  The 
pins  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  pins  of  the  court  and  their  cords  ;  19.  The  garments 
of  office  to  minister  in  the  sanctuary,  the  lioly  garments  for  Aaron  the  priest,  and 
the  garments  of  his  sons  to  serve  as  priests. 

20.  And  all  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  Moses. 
21.  And  they  came,  every  man  whom  his  heart  stirred  up  ;  and  every  one  whom  his 
spirit  made  willing  brought  the  Lord's  offering  for  the  work  of  the  tent  of  meeting 
and  for  all  its  service  and  for  the  holy  garments.  22.  And  they  came  the  men  with 
the  women  :  all  the  willing  of  heart  brought  clasps  and  ear-rings  and  rings  and  neck- 
laces, all  jewels  of  gold  ;  and  every  man  made  a  wave-offering  of  gold  unto  the  Lord. 

23.  And  every  man  with  whom  was  found  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  and  fine 
linen  and  goats'  hair,  and  rams'  skins  dyed  red,    and  badgers'  skins,   brought  them. 

24.  Every  one  making  an  offering  of  silver  and  brass  brought  the  offering  of  the 
Lord  :  and  every  one  with  whom  was  found  shittah  wood  for  any  work  of  the  service 
brought  it.     25.  And  every  woman  wise  of  heart  span  with  her  hands  :  and  they 

*  The  lesson  of  this  tran'^action  cannot  be  too  mnoh  emphasizerl.  The  sin  of  the  people  inter- 
rupted the  con-trnction  of  the  tabernacle.  So  worldliness,  erroneous  views  of  God,  attempts  to 
accommodate  worship  and  service  to  the  world's  ideas,  hinder  the  progress  of  God's  spiritual  building. 
A  living  spiritual  church  will  be,  commonly,  a  growing  church.  A  church  pleasing  itself,  and  not 
Christ,  grieves  the  Head,  and  drives  away  the  quickening  Spirit.— J.  H. 


EXODUS  XXXV.  1-35.  223 

brought  yarn,  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  and  fine  Lncn.  26.  And  all  tbe  V\-omen 
whose  heart  stirred  them  up  with  wisdom  sjDan  the  goats'  hair.  27.  And  the  rulers 
brought  onyx  stones  and  stones  for  setting,  for  the  ephod  and  for  the  breastplate  ; 
28.  And  spice  and  oil,  for  the  light  and  for  the  anointing  oil  and  for  the  incense  of 
perfumes.  29.  Every  man  and  woman  whose  heart  made  them  willing  to  bring  for 
all  the  work  which  the  Lokd  commanded  to  do  by  the  hand  of  Moses,  the  sons  of 
Israel  brought  a  free-will  offeiing  unto  the  Loed.  *][  55. 

30.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  See,  the  Lord  hath  called  by  name 
Bezalel,  son  of  Uri,  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  31.  And  filled  him  with  the 
spirit  of  God  in  wisdom,  in  understanding,  and  in  knowledge,  and  in  all  workman- 
ship ;  32.  And  to  devise  designs,  to  work  in  gold  and  in  silver  and  in  brass  ;  33.  And 
in  cutting  of  stone  for  setting  and  in  carving  of  wood,  to  make  every  work  of  design. 
34.  And  he  hath  put  it  in  his  heart  to  teach,  both  in  him  and  in  Aholiab,  son  of 
Ahisamak,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  35.  Them  hath  he  filled  with  wisdom  of  heart  to  do 
all  the  work  of  the  artificer,  and  the  designer,  and  the  embroiderer  in  blue  and  in 
purple  and  in  crimson  and  in  fine  linen,  and  of  the  weaver  ;  who  do  every  work  and 
devise  designs. 

Of  the  remaining  six  chapters,  the  first  records  the  offerings  and  other  preparations 
for  the  tabernacle  ;  the  next  four,  the  progi-ess  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
work  ;  and  the  last,  the  actual  erection  and  inauguration  of  the  house  of  God.  There 
is  little  to  remark  on  these  chapters,  as  they  are  mainly  a  detail  of  the  execution  of 
that  of  which  the  plan  is  contained  in  chaps.  25-31. 

1-3.  A  preliminary  injunction  concerning  the  Sabbath.  Moses  begins  where  the 
directions  concerning  the  sanctuary  close  (31  :  12-17).  The  special  precept  of  this 
passage  is,  '"  Ye  shall  not  kindle  a  fire  in  all  your  dwellings  on  the  Sabbath  day."  This 
precludes  smith-work  and  cooking.  Fo^  domestic  comfort,  fire  was  not  a  thing  of 
necessity  or  mercy  in  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai.  In  colder  regions  it  is  otherwise  ; 
and  there  the  law  of  necessity  or  mercy  regulates  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath.* 

4-19.  The  materials  required  of  the  people,  and  the  articles  to  be  made  for  the  sanc- 
tuary are  here  specified.  The  former  are  repeated  from  25  : 1-7.  10.  The  wise  of  heart 
are  those  who  possess  the  natural  gift  or  the  acquired  training  for  the  various 
mechanical  arts.  11-19,  The  whole  apparatus  of  the  sanctuary  is  here  enumerated 
from  the  previous  directions  (25  :  30).  The  garments  of  office  are  repeated  from 
31  :  10. 

20-29.  The  contribution  of  the  people.  The  Lord's  offering  (rHOilH'  25  :  2),  that 
which  is  lifted  up  in  token  of  dedication  to  the  Lord  (29  :  24,  27).  22.  The  man  with 
the  tcoman.  Both  sexes  join  in  this  free-will  offering.  The  jewels  of  gold  are  appar- 
ently the  offerings  of  the  women.  Every  man  made  a  wave-offering.  While  each 
female  presented  her  own  gold  triifket  of  whatever  kind,  the  men  seem  to  have  made 
a  joint  contribution  of  gold.  This  may  account  for  the  phrase  ' '  made  a  wave -off  ering' ' 
(29  :  24).  25.  Span  with  her  hands.  This  was  a  feminine  employment.  Blue  and 
purple  and  crimson.  This  implies  that  the  dyeing  preceded  the  spinning.  As  the  fine 
linen  is  distinguished  from  the  colored  stuffs,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  of  wool 
(Num.  19  :  6  ;  Heb.  9  :  19).  29.  The  sons  of  Israel.  This  verse  proves  that  the  phrase 
may  extend,  when  the  occasion  requires,  to  the  female  as  well  as  the  male  descendants 
of  Israel. 

30-35.  The  calling  of  Bezalel  and  Aholiab  is  announced  to  the  people  (31  : 1-6). 

*  According  to  Keil  and  Knobel,  the  prohihition  of  a  fire  in  the  dwellings  of  the  people  had 
immediate  relation  to  the  time  of  the  bniklinq;  of  the  sanctuary.  Others,  like  our  author,  find  a 
reason  for  the  introduction  of  the  matter  here,  in  the  connection  between  Sabbath  rest  and  stated 
worship.— J.  H. 


224  THE   TABERNACLE    MADE. 


CHAP,     XXXVI. — THE     TABERNACLE   MADE. 

XXXVI.  1.  And  Bezalel  and  Aholiab,  and  every  wise-liearted  man  in  whom  the 
Lord  put  wisdom  and  understanding  to  know  how  to  do  every  work  of  the  service  of 
the  sanctuary,  shall  do  according  to  all  that  the  Lord  hath  commanded.  2.  And 
Moses  called  Bezalel  and  Aholiab  and  every  wise-hearted  man,  in  whose  heart  the 
Lord  had  put  wisdom,  every  one  whom  his  heart  stirred  up  to  draw  near  to  the  work 
to  do  it.  3.  And  they  received  of  Moses  all  the  offering  which  the  sons  of  Israel  had 
brought  for  the  work  of  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  to  do  it  :  and  they  brought  unto 
him  yet  a  free  offering  from  morning  to  morning.  4.  Then  came  all  the  v/ise  men 
that  were  doing  the  work  of  the  sanctuarj^  every  man  from  his  work  which  he  was 
doing.  5.  And  they  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  The  people  are  bringing  much  more 
than  enough  for  the  service  of  the  work,  which  the  Lord  commanded  to  make. 
6.  And  Moses  commanded,  and  they  issued  a  proclamation  in  the  camp,  saying,  Let 
not  man  or  woman  make  any  more  work  for  the  offering  of  the  sanctuary.  And  the 
people  were  restrained  from  bringing.  7.  And  their  work  was  sufficient  for  all  the 
work  to  make  it,  and  more.  §  77. 

8.  And  all  the  wise  of  heart  among  them  that  were  doing  the  work  of  the  tabernacle 
made  ten  curtains  of  twined  fine  linen,  and  blue  and  purple  and  crimson  :  with  cher- 
ubim of  cunning  work  made  he  them.  9.  The  length  of  one  curtain  was  eight  and 
twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one  curtain  four  cubits  :  the  curtains  had  all  one 
measure.  10.  And  he  coupled  five  curtains  one  unto  another  ;  and  five  curtains  he 
coupled  one  unto  another.  11.  And  he  made  loops  of  blue  on  the  selvedge  of  the  first 
curtain  at  the  end  in"  the  coupling  :  so  he  made  in  the  selvedge  of  the  last  curtain 
in  the  second  coupling.  12.  Fifty  loops  made  he  in  the  first  curtain  ;  and  fifty  loops 
made  he  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain  that  was  in  the  second  coupling  ;  the  loops  match- 
ing one  another.  13.  And  he  made  fifty  taches  of  gold,  and  coupled  the  curtains  one 
to  another  with  the  taches  ;  and  the  taberiM,cle  became  one.  *|[  56. 

14.  And  he  made  curtains  of  goats'  hair  for  a  tent  over  the  tabernacle  ;  eleven  cur- 
tains made  he  them.  15,  The  length  of  one  curtain  was  thirty  cubits,  and  four  cubits 
the  breadth  of  one  curtain  ;  the  eleven  curtains  had  one  measure.  16.  And  he 
coupled  five  curtains  by  themselves,  and  six  curtains  by  themselves.  17.  And  he 
made  fifty  loops  on  the  selvedge  of  the  last  curtain  in  the  coupling  ;  and  fifty  loops 
made  he  on  the  selvedge  of  the  curtain  in  the  second  couiDling.  18.  And  he  made 
fifty  taches  of  brass  to  couple  the  tent  that  it  might  be  one.  19.  And  he  made  a  cov- 
ering for  the  tent  of  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins  from  above. 
§  78. 

20.  And  he  made  boards  for  the  tabernacle  of  shittah  wood  standing  up.  21.  Ten 
cubits  was  the  length  of  a  board,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  of  one  board. 
22.  Two  tenons  were  to  one  board,  set  alike  one  to  another  :  thus  he  made  for  all  the 
boards  of  the  tabernacle.  23.  And  he  made  the  boards  for  the  tabernacle,  twenty 
boards  on  the  south  side  southward.  24.  And  tortj  sockets  of  silver  made  he  under 
the  twenty  boards  ;  two  sockets  under  one  board  for  its  two  tenons,  and  two  sockets 
under  another  board  for  its  two  tenons.  25.  And^or  the  other  side  of  the  tabernacle 
northward  he  made  twenty  boards.  26.  And  their  forty  sockets  of  silver  ;  two  sockets 
under  one  board,  and  two  sockets  under  another  board.  27.  And  for  the  rear  of  the 
tabernacle  westward  he  made  six  boards.  28.  And  two  boards  made  he  for  the  corners 
of  the  tabernacle  in  the  rear.  29.  And  they  were  doubled  beneath,  and  together  they 
were  complete  at  the  top  for  the  one  ring  ;  thiis  he  did  for  the  two  of  them  for  the 
two  corners.  30.  And  there  were  eight  boards,  and  their  sockets  of  silver  were  six- 
teen sockets  ;  two  sockets  each  under  the  one  board.  31.  And  he  made  bars  of 
shittah  wood,  five  for  the  boards  of  the  one  side  of  the  tabernacle,  32.  And  five  bars 
for  the  boards  of  the  other  side  of  the  tabernacle,  and  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the 
tabernacle  to  the  rear  westward.  33.  And  he  made  the  middle  bar  to  shoot  in  the 
middle  of  the  boards  from  end  to  end.  34.  And  he  overlaid  the  boards  with  gold,  and 
made  their  rings  of  gold,  to  be  places  for  the  bars  :  and  he  overlaid  the  bars  with  gold. 

35.  And  he  made  the  vail  of  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  and  tv.aned  fine  linen  : 
of  cunning  work  made  he  it,  with  cherubim.  36.  And  he  made  for  it  four  pillars  of 
shittah,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold,  and  their  hooks  were  of  gold  :  and  he  cast  for 


EXODUS   XXXVII.  225 

them  fonr  sockets  of  silver.  37.  And  lie  made  a  cover  for  the  door  of  the  tent  of  blue 
and  purple  and  crimson,  and  twined  fine  linen,  wrought  with  needlework.  38.  And 
its  five  pillars  and  their  hooks,  and  he  overlaid  their  chapiters  and  their  rods  with 
gold  ;  and  their  five  sockets  were  of  brass.  ^  57.  ' 

The  commencement  of  the  work  and  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  are  recorded 
in  this  chapter,  which  after  the  first  section  corresponds  with  chapter  26. 

1-7.  The  materials  for  the  work  handed  over  to  the  workmen.  And  Bezalel  .  .  . 
shall  do  (nii^yi)-  ^^^^  verse  is  properly  the  close  of  the  address  of  Moses  to  the 
people,  and  should  have  stood  at  the  end  of  the  previous  chapter.  2.  He  now  ad- 
dresses Bezalel,  Aholiab,  and  their  men.  3-7.  The  people  bring  enough,  and  more 
than,  enough  for  the  work,  until  they  are  required  to  desist.  As  the  spinning  and 
weaving  must  have  begun  almost  simultaneously  with  the  labors  of  the  other  work- 
men, they  were  bringing  in  wrought  materials  for  some  months  after  the  works  began. 

8-38.  The  construction  of  the  tabernacle  is  here  minutely  reported.  The  full  detail 
into  which  the  sacred  writer  enters  indicates  the  paramount  importance  attached  to 
the  work.  The  narrative  begins  with  the  tabernacle  itself,  which  is  the  largest  piece 
of  the  work.  But  we  may  suppose  that  other  sets  of  workmen  were  engaged  on  the 
furniture,  the  court,  and  the  priestly  dresses.  It  was  necessary  also  that  the  taber- 
nacle should  be  ready  for  the  sacred  utensils  as  soon  as  they  were  prepared.  The 
sections  of  this  chapter  after  the  first  correspond  nearly  with  those  of  chap.  26, 

CHAP.    XXXVII. — THE   FTmNITURE  IN  THE   TABERNACLE. 

XXXVII.  1.  And  Bezalel  made  the  ark  of  shittah  wood  ;  two  cubits  and  a  half  the 
length  of  it,  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  of  it,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  height  of 
it.  2.  And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold  within  and  without  ;  and  made  for  it  a  crown 
of  gold  round  about.  3.  And  he  cast  for  it  four  rings  of  gold  upon  its  four  feet  :  and 
two  rings  were  on  the  one  side  of  it,  and  two  rings  on  the  other  §ide  of  it.  4.  And  he 
made  staves  of  shittah  wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold.  5.  And  he  put 
the  staves  in  the  rings  on  the  sides  of  the  ark,  to  bear  the  ark.  6.  And  he  made  a 
mercy-seat  of  pure  gold  ;  two  cubits  and  a  half  the  length  of  it,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half 
the  breadth  of  it.  7.  And  he  made  two  cherubim  of  gold  ;  of  beaten  work  made  he 
them,  on  the  two  ends  of  the  mercy-seat.  8.  One  cherub  on  the  one  end,  and  another 
cherub  on  the  other  end  ;  out  of  the  mercy-seat  made  he  the  cherubim  on  its  two, 
ends.  9.  And  the  cherubim  were  spreading  out  two  wings  above,  covering  the  mercy-*, 
seat  with  their  wings,  and  their  faces  each  to  the  other  ;  toward  the  mercy-seat  "we.re 
the  faces  of  the  cherubim.  ^  58. 

10.  And  he  made  the  table  of  shittah  wood  ;  two  cubits  the  length  of  it,  ajid  a  Qubit;; 
the  breadth  of  it,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  height  of  it.  11.  And  he  overlaid  ij;  with, 
pure  gold,  and  made  for  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about.  12,  And  he  mad^  for.  it;  a. 
border  of  a  hand  breadth  round  about,  and  made  a  crown  of  gold  for  the  border;  ther,eof 
round  about.  13.  And  he  cast  for  it  four  rings  of  gold  ;  and  put  the  rings  on  the  four 
corners  of  its  four  feet.  14.  Over  against  the  border  were  the  rings,  the  places  for  the 
staves  to  bear  the  table.  15.  And  he  made  the  staves  of  shittah  wood,  and  overlaid 
them  with  gold,  to  bear  the  table.  16.  And  he  made  the  vessels  which  aredipon  tho 
table,  its  dishes,  and  its  bowls,  and  its  flagons,  and  its  cups,  to  pour  out  withal,  of 
pure  gold.  %  59. 

17.  And  he  made  the  candlestick  of  pure  gold  :  of  beaten  work  made  he  the  candle- 
stick ;  its  block  and  its  shaft,  its  cups,  its  knops,  and  its  flowers,  were  of  the  same, 
18,  And  six  branches  coming  out  of  its  sides  ;  three  branches  of  the  candlestick  out 
of  the  one  side,  and  three  branches  of  the  candlestick  out  of  the  other  side  :  19,  Three 
almond-shaped  cups  in  one  branch,  a  knop  and  a  flower  ;  and  three  almond-shaped 
cups  in  another  branch,  a  knop  and  a  flower  :  so  for  the  six  branches  coming  out  of 


226  THE    COURT    AND    ITS    FUEKITURE. 

the  candlestick.  20.  And  in  the  candlestick  were  four  almond-shaped  cups,  its  knops 
and  its  flowers.  21.  And  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under 
two  branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the  same,  for  the  six 
branches  coming  out  of  it.  22.  Their  knops  and  their  branches  were  of  the  same  ;  all 
of  it  was  one  beaten  piece  of  pure  gold.  23.  And  he  made  its  seven  lamps,  and  its 
snuffers  and  its  snuff- dishes  of  pure  gold.  24.  Of  a  talent  of  pure  gold  made  he  it  and 
all  its  vessels.  %  60. 

25.  And  he  made  the  altar  of  incense  of  shittah  wood  ;  a  cubit  the  length  of  it,  and 
a  cubit  the  breadth  of  it,  being  square,  and  two  cubits  the  height  of  it  ;  its  horns  were 
of  the  same.  26.  And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold,  its  top  and  its  sides  round  about 
and  its  horns  ;  and  he  made  for  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about.  27.  And  two  rings  of 
gold  made  he  for  it  under  the  crown  of  it,  on  the  two  flanks  thereof,  on  the  two  sides 
of  it,  for  places  for  the  staves  to  bear  it  withal.  28.  And  he  made  the  staves  of  shittah 
wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold.  29.  And  he  made  the  holy  anointing  oil,  and  the 
pure  incense  of  perfumes,  the  work  of  the  perfumer.  §  79. 

This  chapter  records  the  making  of  the  ark  and  mercy-seat,  the  table,  the  candle- 
stick, and  the  altar  of  incense.  These  are  all  the  internal  furniture  of  the  tabernacle. 
It  corresponds  to  chapter  25,  wanting  the  first  nine  verses,  and  to  vs.  1-5,  and  22-25 
of  chapter  30.     The  last  section  is  here  summed  up  in  a  single  verse. 

3.  And  he  cast  .  .  ..  upon  its  four  feet.  The  sense  is  pregnant  here.  It  is  un- 
derstood that  the  rings,  when  cast,  are  put  upon  the  feet  of  the  ark.     So  in  38  : 5. 


CHAP.  XXXVIII. — THE   COURT   AND   ITS   FURNITURE. 

XXXVni.  1.  And  he  made  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  of  shittah  wood  ;  five  cubits 
the  length  of  it,  and  five  cubits  the  breadth  of  it,  being  square,  and  three  cubits  the 
height  of  it.  2.  And  he  made  the  horns  of  it  on  the  four  corners  thereof,  the  horns 
thereof  of  the  same  ;  and  he  overlaid  it  with  brass.  3.  And  he  made  all  the  vessels  of 
the  altar,  the  boxes,  and  the  shovels,  and  the  basins,  and  the  flesh-hooks,  and  the  fire- 
pans ;  all  its  vessels  made  he  of  brass,  4,  And  he  made  for  the  altar  a  grate  of  net- 
work of  brass,  under  its  border  beneath  unto  the  half  of  it,  5.  And  he  cast  four  rings 
in  the  four  ends  of  the  grate  of  brass,  to  be  places  for  the  staves,  6.  And  he  made 
the  staves  of  shittah  wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  brass,  7,  And  he  put  the  staves  in 
the  rings  on  the  sides  of  the  altar  to  bear  it  withal  :  hollow,  of  boards,  made  he  it,  §  80. 

8.  And  he  made  the  laver  of  brass,  and  its  stand  of  brass,  of  the  mirrors  of  the 
women  who  attended  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  §  81, 

9.  And  he  made  the  court  ;  for  the  south  side  southward,  the  hanging  of  the  court 
of  fine  linen  twined  a  hundred  cubits.  10.  Their  pillars  twenty,  and  their  sockets  of 
brass  twenty  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  rods  of  silver.  11.  And  for  the  north 
side  a  hundred  cubits,  their  pillars  twenty  and  their  sockets  of  brass  twenty  ;  the 
hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  rods  of  silver.  12.  And  for  the  west  side  the  hangings 
were  fifty  cubits,  their  pillars  ten  and  their  sockets  ten  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and 
their  rods  of  silver,  13,  And  for  the  east  side,  eastward,  fifty  cubits,  14,  The  hang- 
ings fifteen  cubits  for  the  wing  ;  their  pillars  three  and  their  sockets  three.  15.  And 
for  the  other  wing  on  this  side,  and  on  that  side  of  the  court  gate,  the  hangings  were 
fifteen  cubits  ;  their  pillars  three  and  their  sockets  three,  16,  All  the  hangings  of  the 
court  round  about  were  of  fine  linen  twined.  17.  And  the  sockets  for  the  pillars  were 
of  brass,  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  rods  of  silver,  and  the  overlaying  of  their 
chapiters  of  silver  :  and  all  the  pillars  of  the  court  were  joined  with  rods  of  silver,  18. 
And  the  covering  of  the  court  gate  was  wrought  with  needlework  of  blue  and  purple 
and  crimson,  and  fine  linen  twined  :  and  twenty  cubits  was  the  length,  and  the  height 
in  the  breadth  five  cubits,  matching  the  hangings  of  the  court,  19.  And  their  pillars 
four,  and  their  sockets  of  brass  four  ;  their  hooks  of  silver,  and  the  overlaying  of  their 
chapiters  and  their  rods  of  silver.  20.  And  all  the  pins  for  the  tabernacle  and  for  the 
ooart  round  about  were  of  brass.  23,  §  §  §  82, 

21.  These  are  the  accounts  of  the  tabernacle,  the  tabernacle  of  the  testimony,  that 


EXODUS  XXXIX.  227 

was  counted  at  the  word  of  Moses,  the  service  of  the  Levites  by  the  hand  of  Ithamar, 
son  of  Aaron  the  priest.  22.  And  Bezalel,  son  of  Uri,  son  of  Hnr,  of  the  tribe  of  Ju- 
dah,  made  all  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  23.  And  with  him  Ahoiiab,  son  of 
Ahisamak,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  an  artificer  and  designer,  and  an  embroiderer  in  blue 
and  in  purple  and  in  crimson  and  in  fine  linen.  24.  All  the  gold  that  was  used  for  the 
work  in  all  the  work  of  the  sanctuary,  even  the  gold  of  the  offering,  was  nine  and 
twenty  talents,  and  seven  hundred  and  thirty  shekels,  by  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary. 
25.  And  the  silver  of  those  who  were  numbered  of  the  assembly  was  a  hundred  tal- 
ents, and  a  thousand  and  seven  hundred  and  five  and  seventy  shekels,  by  the  shekel 
of  the  sanctuary.  26.  A  beka  for  the  poll,  the  half  shekel  by  the  shekel  of  the  sanc- 
tuary for  every  one  passing  into  the  numbered  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
for  six  hundred  thousand  and  three  thousand  and  five  hundred  and  fifty.  27. 
And  the  hundred  talents  of  silver  went  for  casting  the  sockets  of  the  sanc- 
tuary and  the  sockets  of  the  vail  ;  a  hundred  sockets  for  a  hundred  talents,  a 
talent  for  a  socket.  28.  And  of  the  thousand  and  seven  hundred  and  five  and  sev- 
enty shekels  made  he  hooks  for  the  pillars,  and  overlaid  their  chapiters,  and  rodded 
them.  29.  And  the  brass  of  the  wave-offering  was  seventy  talents  and  two  thousand 
and  four  hundred  shekels.  30.  And  with  it  he  made  the  sockets  for  the  door  of  the 
tent  of  meeting,  and  the  brazen  altar  and  the  brazen  grate  for  it,  and  all  the  vessels  ol 
the  altar  ;  31.  And  the  sockets  of  the  court  round  about  and  the  sockets  of  the  court 
gate  ;  and  all  the  pins  of  the  tabernacle  and  all  the  pins  of  the  court  round  about. 

This  chapter  describes  the  construction  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  the  laver  and 
the  court  in  which  they  were  placed,  and  ends  with  an  account  of  the  metals  em- 
ployed in  the  work. 

1-20  correspond  with  chapter  27  :  1-8,  30  :  18,  and  27  :  9-18. 

21-31.  This  passage  refers  to  30  :  11-16,  and  27  :  19.  It  is  an  account  of  the  metals 
required  for  the  sanctuary.  That  was  counted  refers  directly  to  the  tabernacle,  concern- 
ing which  the  account  was  kept.  By  the  hand  of  Moses,  at  his  order.  The  service  of.  ' 
This  reckoning  was  the  business  of  the  Levites  under  the  superintendence  of  Ithamar. 
25-26.  The  silver  of  those  that  were  nwribered  of  the  assembly.  The  order  given  in 
30  :  11-16,  including  the  payment  of  a  beka  for  every  male  from  twenty  years  old  and 
upward,  had  been  so  far  executed,  probably  on  the  day  of  atonement.  The  sum  of  the 
class  numbered  is  six  hundred  and  three  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty.  This  was 
an  important  part  of  the  service  of  the  Levites  (vs.  21).  This  census  was  completed 
by  the  examination  of  the  documents  and  the  drawing  up  of  an  authenticated  register 
about  half  a  year  after,  of  which  we  have  an  account  in  the  first  chapters  of  Numbers. 
27,  28.  From  these  verses  it  appears  that  a  talent  was  equal  to  3000  shekels.  Keck- 
oning  the  shekel  at  220  grains,  we  find  that  the  gold  amounts  to  nearly  3350  pounds 
troy  weight,  the  silver  to  nearly  11,526  pounds,  and  the  brass  to  nearly  8112  pounds. 

The  Israelites  had  left  Egj^Dt  the  year  in  which  they  made  this  contribution  for  the 
construction  of  the  tabernacle.  Though  many  of  them  were  employed  in  servile  la- 
bors, yet  the  people  as  a  whole  must  have  been  possessed  of  considerable  wealth.  To 
this  the  Egyptians  made  a  considerable  accession  at  their  departure.  The  sum  here 
contributed  is  moderate  in  comparison  with  the  enormous  treasures  amassed  by  the 
Assyrians,  the  Babylonians,  the  Arabians,  and  the  Egyptians  themselves. 

CHAP.  XXXIX. — THE   PRIESTLY    GARMENTS. 

XXXIX.  1.  And  of  the  blue  and  the  purple  and  the  crimson  they  made  garments  of 
office  to  minister  in  the  sanctuary  :  and  they  made  the  holy  garments  for  Aaron,  as 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  IT  61. 

2.  And  he  made  the  ephod  of  gold,  of  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen 
twined.     3.  And  they  beat  out  thin  plates  of  gold,  and  cut  threads  to  work  in  amid 


228  THE    PEIESTLY    GARMENTS. 

tlie  blue  and  tlie  purple  and  the  crimson,  and  the  fine  linen  twined,  with  cunning 
work.  4.  Shoulder-straps  made  they  for  it,  joining  it  ;  at  the  two  edges  thereof  was 
it  joined.  5.  And  the  belt  for  fastening  it,  that  was  upon  it,  was  of  the  same,  ac- 
cording to  the  work  thereof  ;  gold,  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen  ;  as 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  §  83. 

6.  And  they  wrought  onyx  stones  inclosed  in  ouches  of  gold,  engraven,  like  the  en- 
gravings of  a  signet,  with  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  7.  And  he  put  them  on 
the  shoulders  of  the  ephod,  to  be  stones  of  memorial  for  the  sons  of  Israel  ;  as  the 
LoED  commanded  Moses.  IT  62. 

8.  And  he  made  the  breastplate  of  cunning  work,  like  the  work  of  the  ephod  ;  of 
gold,  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  and  twined  fine  linen. .  9.  It  was  square  ;  double 
made  they  the  breastplate  ;  a  span  its  length,  and  a  span  its  breadth,  being  doubled. 
10.  And  they  set  in  it  four  rows  of  stone,  a  row  of  sardius,  topaz,  and  emerald,  the 
first  row.  11.  And  the  second  row,  a  carbuncle,  a  sapphire,  and  a  diamond.  12. 
And  the  third  row,  a  ligure,  an  agate,  and  an  amethyst.  13.  And  the  fourth  row  a 
chrysolite,  an  onyx,  and  a  jasper,  inclosed  in  ouches  of  gold  in  their  settings.  14. 
And  the  stones  were  engraven  with  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Israel  ;  these  are  twelve, 
according  to  their  names,  with  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  each  with  its  name,  for  the 
twelve  tribes.  15.  And  they  made  on  the  breastplate  attaching  chains  of  wreathen 
work,  of  pure  gold.  16.  And  they  made  two  ouches  of  gold,  and  two  rings  of  gold, 
and  put  the  two  rings  on  the  two  ends  of  the  breastplate.  17.  And  they  put  the  two 
cords  of  gold  upon  the  two  rings  on  the  two  ends  of  the  breastplate.  18.  And  the  two 
ends  of  the  two  cords  they  fastened  in  the  two  ouches,  and  put  them  on  the  shoulders 
of  the  ephod  in  front  of  it.  19.  And  they  made  two  rings  of  gold,  and  put  them  on 
the  two  ends  of  the  breastplate,  on  the  border  of  it  which  was  on  the  further  side  of 
the  ephod  inward.  20.  And  they  made  two  rings  of  gold,  and  put  them  on  the  two 
shoulder-straps  of  the  ephod  beneath  in  the  front  of  it,  over  against  the  joining 
thereof,  above  the  belt  of  the  ephod.  21  And  they  bound  the  breastplate  by  its  rings 
unto  the  rings  of  the  ephod  with  a  lace  of  blue  to  be  upon  the  belt  of  the  ephod,  that 
the  breastplate  be  not  loosed  from  the  ephod  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.     IT  63. 

22.  And  he  made  the  robe  of  the  ephod  of  woven  work,  all  of  blue.  23.  And  the 
hole  of  the  robe  was  in  the  midst  of  it,  as  the  hole  of  a  habergeon  ;  a  binding  was  on 
the  hole  of  it  around,  that  it  might  not  be  rent.  24.  And  they  made  upon  the  hem  of 
the  robe  pomegranates  of  blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  twined.  25.  And  they  made 
bells  of  pure  gold,  and  put  the  bells  between  the  pomegranates,  upon  the  hem  of  the  robe 
around  between  the  jjomegranates.  26.  A  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  a  bell  and  a  pome- 
granate, on  the  hem  of  the  robe  around,  to  minister  therein  ;  as  the  Loed  commanded 
Moses,  §  84. 

27.  And  they  made  the  coats  of  fine  linen,  of  woven  work,  for  Aaron  and  for  his 
sons  ;  28.  And  the  mitre  of  fine  linen,  and  the  goodly  bonnets  of  fine  linen,  and  the 
ilinen  bjeeches  of  fine  linen  twined  ;  29.  And  the  girdle  of  fine  linen  twined,  and 
(blue  and  purple  and  crimson,  of  needlework  ;  as  the  Loed  commanded  Moses.     §  85. 

•30.  And  they  made  the  plate  of  the  holy  crown  of  pure  gold,  and  wrote  upon  it  a 
writing,  like  the  engravings  of  a  signet.  Holiness  to  the  Loed.  31.  And  they  put 
upon  it  a  lace  of  blue  to  fasten  it  on  the  mitre  above  ;  as  the  Loed  commanded 
Moses.  §86. 

32.  Then  was  finished  all  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of  meeting  :  and 
the  sons  of  Israel  .did  according  to  all  that  the  Loed  commanded  Moses,  so  did 
they.  H  64. 

33.  And  they  brought  the  tabernacle  to  Moses,  the  tent,  and  all  its  vessels  ;  its 
taclife.3,  its  boards,  its  bars,  and  its  pillars  and  its  sockets  ;  34.  And  the  covering  of 
rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  the  covering  of  badgers'  skins,  and  the  vail  of  covering  ; 
35,  The  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  the  staves  thereof,  and  the  mercy-seat  ;  36.  The 
table,  all  its  vessels,  and  the  shew-bread  ;  37.  The  pure  candlestick,  the  lamps  thereof, 
the  lamps  of  the  ordering,  and  all  its  vessels,  and  the  oil  for  the  light  ;  38.  And  the 
altar  of  gold,  and  the  anointing  oil,  and  the  incense  of  perfumes,  and  the  cover  for 
the  tent  door  ;  39.  The  altar  of  brass,  and  its  grate  of  brass,  its  staves  and  all  its  ves- 
sels, the  laver  and  its  stand  ;  40.  The  hangings  of  the  court,  its  pillars  and  its  sock- 
ets, and  the  cover  for  the  court  gate,  its  cords  and  its  pins  ;  and  all  the  vessels  of  the 
service  of  the  tabernacle  for  the  tent  of  meeting  :  41.  The  garments  of  office  to  minis- 


EXODUS    XL.  229 

ter  in  the  sanctuary  ;  the  holy  garments  for  Aaron  the  priest,  and  the  garments  of  his 
sons  to  serve  as  priests  therein.  42.  According  to  all  that  the  Loed  commanded 
Moses,  so  did  the  sons  of  Israel  all  the  service.  43.  And  Moses  saw  all  the  work, 
and,  lo,  they  had  done  it  as  the  Lokd  had  commanded,  so  had  they  done  :  and  Moses 
blessed  them.  IT  65. 

This  chajDter  contains  the  making  of  the  priestly  attire,  the  ephod,  the  breastplate, 
the  robe,  the  coats,  the  mitre  and  bonnet,  the  girdle,  and  the  plate  of  the  holy 
crown  ;  and  the  presenting  of  the  whole  to  Moses  for  inspection  and  approval. 

1-32.  The  articles  of  dress  are  here,  no  doubt,  arranged  in  the  order  of  manu- 
facture. 

33^3.  The  finished  articles  are  enumerated  in  detail.  36,  And  the  shew-hread.  This 
is  included  here  as  an  accompaniment  of  the  table,  for  which  all  the  requisite  materi- 
als were  provided.  37.  So  "  the  oil  for  the  light"  was  ready.  38.  The  anointing  oil 
and  the  incense  of  perfumes  had  also  been  compounded  by  the  perfumer.  43.  This 
verse  reminds  us  of  Gen.  1  :  31.  And  Moses  blessed  them,  in  token  of  his  approval  of 
the  manner  in  which  they  had  executed  the  work. 

CHAP.  XL. — THE   TABERNACLE    SET    UP. 

XL.  1,  And  the  Loed  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  On  the  first  day  of  the  first 
month  shalt  thou  set  up  the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  3.  And  thou  shalt  put 
therein  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  cover  the  ark  with  the  vail.  4.  And  thou  shalt 
bring  in  the  table  and  arrange  the  order  thereof  ;  and  thou  shalt  bring  in  the  candle- 
stick and  set  up  the  lamps  thereof.  5.  And  thou  shalt  set  the  altar  of  gold  for  incense 
before  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  put  the  hanging  of  the  door  to  the  tabernacle.  6. 
And  thou  shalt  set  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  before  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
tent  of  meeting.  7.  And  thou  shalt  set  the  laver  between  the  tent  of  meeting  and  the 
altar,  and  put  water  therein.  8.  And  thou  shalt  set  up  the  court  around,  and  put 
the  cover  at  the  court  gate.  9.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  anointing  oil,  and  anoint  the 
tabernacle  and  all  that  is  therein  ;  and  shalt  hallow  it  and  all  its  vessels,  and  it 
shall  be  holy.  10.  And  thou  shalt  anoint  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  and  all  its  ves- 
sels ;  and  thou  shalt  hallow  the  altar,  and  the  altar  shall  be  most  holy.  11.  And  thou 
shalt  anoint  the  laver  and  its  stand,  and  hallow  it.  12.  And  thou  shalt  bring  Aaron 
and  his  sons  unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  wash  them  with  water.  13. 
And  thou  shalt  clothe  Aaron  with  the  holy  garments  ;  and  shalt  anoint  him  and  hal- 
low him,  and  he  shall  serve  me  as  ^Driest.  14.  And  thou  shalt  bring  his  sons  and 
clothe  them  with  coats  ;  15.  And  thou  shalt  anoint  them,  as  thou  didst  anoint  their 
father,  and  they  shall  serve  me  as  priests  ;  and  their  anointing  shall  be  to  them  a  per- 
petual priesthood  for  their  generations.  16.  And  Moses  did  according  to  all  that  the 
Loed  commanded  him,  so  did  he.  §  87. 

17.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  first  month  in  the  second  year,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  month,  that  the  tabernacle  was  set  up.  18.  And  Moses  set  up  the  tabernacle,  and 
fastened  its  sockets,  and  set  on  the  boards  thereof,  and  put  in  the  bars  thereof,  and 
set  up  its  pillars.  19.  And  he  spread  the  tent  over  the  tabernacle,  and  put  the  cover- 
ing of  the  tent  upon  it  above  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  §  88. 

20.  And  he  took  and  put  the  testimony  in  the  ark,  and  set  the  staves  on  the  ark  ; 
and  put  the  mercy-seat  upon  the  ark  above.  21.  And  he  brought  the  ark  into  the 
tabernacle,  and  put  on  the  vail  of  covering,  and  covered  the  ark  of  testimony  ;  as  the 
Loed  commanded  Moses.  §  89. 

22.  And  he  set  the  table  in  the  tent  of  meeting  on  the  side  of  the  tabernacle  north- 
ward, without  the  vail.  23.  And  he  laid  in  order  upon  it  the  bread  before  the  Lord  ; 
as  the  Loed  commanded  Moses.  §  90. 

24.  And  he  set  the  candlestick  in  the  tent  of  meeting  over  against  the  table,  on  the 
side  of  the  tabernacle  southward.  25.  And  he  set  up  the  lamps  before  the  Loed  ;  as 
the  Loed  commanded  Moses.  §  91. 


230  THE  TABERKACLE   SET   UP. 

26.  And  he  set  the  altar  of  gold  in  the  tent  of  meeting  before  the  vail  ;  27.  And 
burnt  on  it  incense  of  perfumes  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  §  92. 

28.  And  he  put  the  cover  of  the  door  on  the  tabernacle.  29.  And  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering  set  he  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  and  offered 
upon  it  the  burnt-offering  and  the  meat-offering  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  §  93. 

30.  And  he  set  the  laver  between  the  tent  of  meeting  and  the  altar,  and  put 
water  therein  for  washing.  31.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  wash  their 
hands  and  their  feet  thereout  ;  32.  When  they  go  into  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  when 
they  draw  near  to  the  altar,  they  wash  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  §  94. 

33.  And  he  set  up  the  court  around  the  tabernacle  and  the  altar  ;  and  put  on  the 
cover  of  the  court  gate  :  and  Moses  finished  the  work.  II  56. 

34.  And  the  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the 
tabernacle.  35.  And  Moses  was  not  able  to  enter  the  tent  of  meeting,  because  the 
cloud  abode  thereon,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle.  36.  And  when 
the  cloud  was  lifted  up  from  over  the  tabernacle  the  sons  of  Israel  set  out  in  all  their 
journeys.  37.  And  if  the  cloud  was  not  lifted  up,  then  they  did  not  set  out  till  the 
day,  when  it  was  lifted  up.  38.  For  the  cloud  of  the  Lord  was  upon  the  tabernacle 
by  day,  and  the  fire  was  on  it  by  night,  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  house  of  Israel  in  aU 
their  journeys. 

This  chapter  contains  the  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle,  including  the  commence- 
ment of  the  prescribed  services,  and  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  presence  and 
grace  in  the  sanctuary. 

1-16.  The  command  is  issued  for  the  rearing  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  anointing 
of  it,  and  all  its  vessels  and  ministers.  9-15.  This  anointing  is  to  signify  thfe  hallow- 
ing or  setting  of  them  apart  to  a  holy  use.  Everything  here  has  been  tainted  with 
the  presence  of  sin.  The  sinner  must  be  sanctified  in  order  to  be  received  again  into 
the  fellowship  of  his  Maker.  The  great  agent  of  sanctiflcation  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 
His  purifying  work  is  here  typified  by  the  anointing  with  oil. 

17-22.  We  have  then  an  orderly  detail  of  the  execution  of  the  first  part  of  this  com- 
mand. 17-19.  The  date  of  the  rearing  of  the  tabernacle  is  the  first  day  of  the  first 
month  of  the  second  year  (see  on  34  :  28).  20,  21.  After  the  rearing  of  the  taber- 
nacle, the  testimony,  that  is,  the  two  tables  of  stone  with  the  ten  commandments 
engraven  on  them,  is  placed  in  the  ark,  and  the  ark  with  the  mercy-seat  in  the  most 
holy  place.  22,  23.  The  table  is  placed  on  the  north  side  of  the  holy  place,  probably  at 
the  middle  of  the  wall.  The  shew-bread  is  set  in  order  upon  it.  24,  25.  The  candle- 
stick occupies  the  corresponding  place  on  the  south  side.  Its  lamps  are  set  on.  26, 
27.  The  altar  of  gold  is  placed  before  the  vail  at  the  middle  points.  The  incense  is 
kindled  upon  it.  28,  29  The  altar  of  brass  in  the  middle  between  the  two  sides,  say 
twenty-five  feet  from  the  gate  of  the  court.  The  burnt-offering  and  the  meat-offering 
are  offered  upon  it.  30-32.  The  laver  we  may  suppose  to  be  twenty-five  feet  from 
the  altar,  and  from  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  Sholl  wash,  will  have  washed 
whenever  they  proceed  to  the  altar  or  the  sanctuary.  32.  Wash  This  expresses  the 
rule  and  custom  of  those  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  33.  The  whole  is 
completed  by  the  erection  of  the  court.  We  observe  in  the  rearing  up  of  the  taber- 
nacle that  every  part  of  the  ritual  service  is  declared  to  be  commenced  as  the  corre- 
sponding part  of  the  furniture  is  put  in  its  place — the  bread  laid  on  the  table,  the 
lighted  lamps  set  on  the  candlestick,  the  incense  kindled  on  the  altar  of  gold,  and  the 
appropriate  offerings  made  on  the  altar  of  brass.  This  may  mean  either  that  these 
acts  were  done  on  the  instant  or  in  due  course  of  events.  In  the  absence  of  any 
reason  to  the  contrary,  we  may  presume  the  former  to  be  the  fact.  In  this  case  the 
setting  up  of  the  service  corresponds  with  the  history  of  salvation.     The  ark,  with 


EXODUS  XL.  34-38.  331 

its  inclosed  testimony,  mercy- seat,  and  overshadowing  cherubim,  indicates  the  pur- 
pose of  salvation  in  the  mind  of  the  present  Deity.  The  bread,  the  light,  and  the 
incense  shadow  forth  the  actual  blessings  and  privileges  of  the  saved  on  account  of 
the  atonement  yet  to  be  made.  The  altar  of  brass  and  the  laver  are  the  emblems  of 
atonement  and  renewal  eventually  accomplished  in  the  history  of  mankind.  The 
process  for  the  individual  is  now  reversed.  When  the  burnt-offering  and  meat-offer- 
ing have  ascended  the  altar,  the  atonement  has  been  typically  made  and  accepted. 
When  the  priest  cleanses  himself  at  the  laver  the  internal  holiness  is  symbolized. 
Then  follows  the  intercession,  represented  by  the  incense  on  the  golden  altar.  After 
that  the  full  communion  of  holiness  and  blessing.  And  lastly,  the  union  with  God  is 
sealed  for  ever. 

34-38.  Then  follows  an  event  of  solemn  import,  which  is  best  expressed  in  the  sim- 
ple language  of  the  text.  Moses  was  not  able.  In  the  first  overwhelming  display  of 
the  divine  glory  the  tabernacle  was  not  to  be  approached  by  man.  The  after  pro- 
ceedings, however,  are  not  here  recorded.  We  have  to  wait  for  them  till  we  reach  the 
subsequent  books.  This  manifestation  of  the  divine  glory  indicates  the  acceptance  of 
the  tabernacle  and  of  the  worship  that  is  now  commenced  in  it.  36.  When  the  cloud 
was  lifted  up.  This  intimates  that  from  this  time  forward  the  cloud  continued  resting 
on  the  tabernacle.  The  lifting  of  it  up  was  the  signal  of  departure.  The  cloud  by 
day  and  the  fire  by  night  were  conspicuous  before  the  eyes  of  "  all  the  house  of  Israel 
in  aU  their  journeys."  Young  and  old,  male  and  female,  the  numbered  and  mar- 
shalled host  and  the  wandering  clans  tending  their  flocks  and  herds,  were  alike  spec- 
tators of  this  wondrous  sign  of  the  divine  presence,  of  the  central  encampment  of 
.their  race,  and  of  their  perfect  security  under  the  divine  protection.  With  this  beau- 
tiful thought  and  cheering  fact  the  sacred  writer  closes  his  account  of  an  act  which  is 
the  consummation  of  the  exodus.  Some  circumstances  antecedent  to  the  rearing  of 
the  tabernacle  and  many  inseparably  connected  with  it,  have  yet  to  be  recorded. 
But  the  fine  taste  of  the  narrator  taught  him  that  the  descent  of  the  divine  glory  upon 
the  erected  tabernacle  was  the  fitting  conclusion  of  this  stage  of  his  unparalleled  nar- 
rative. 

The  nations  of  the  earth  are  no  longer  visibly  one  on  the  momentous  question  of 
allegiance  to  God.  The  holy  nation  has  publicly  come  out  from  the  world.  The 
great  body  of  mankind  has  become  gradually  more  and  more  estranged  from  the  true 
and  living  God.  Four  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago  Abraham  has  been  called  to  sep- 
arate himself  from  his  father' s  home  and  land  in  preparation  for  this  sad  event. 
And  now,  when  the  process  of  human  ungodliness  is  come  to  a  head,  a  little  nation 
sprung  from  him  stands  forth  as  a  witness  for  God,  a  light  in  the  midst  of  darkness, 
and  a  salt  that  is  yet  to  preserve  the  earth.  This  little  people  is  itself  the  type  and 
germ  of  all  coming  stages  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  Cradled  in  persecution, 
it  yet  escapes  to  the  wilderness,  and  is  fed  with  manna  from  the  sky  and  water  from 
the  rock,  by  the  omnipotent  word  of  God.  Its  conscience  is  awakened  by  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  moral  law,  and  then  led  from  the  despair  of  guilt  to  the  calmness  of 
peace  with  God  through  the  symbolic  propitiation  of  the  tabernacle.  In  the  infancy 
of  its  mind  it  is  wisely  and  kindly  trained  by  the  use  of  appropriate  symbols  to  grasp 
the  transcendent  thoughts  of  mercy  and  truth,  of  righteousness  and  peace,  of  atone- 
ment, of  redemption,  and  regeneration.  The  roots  of  bitterness  again  and  again  burst 
through  the  soil  and  shoot  up  into  a  baneful  luxuriance.  Nevertheless,  the  planting 
of  the  Lord  has  taken  root,  and  has  been  growing  and  gathering  strength  again  after 


232 


THE   TABERI>rACLE   SET   UP. 


many  storms  and  amidst  many  thorns  througli  all  the  course  of  time.  If  Genesis  tells 
of  that  first  disobedience  that  brought  death  into  the  world  of  mankind,  Exodus  speaks 
with  cheering  hope  of  that  suffering  but  surviving  obedience  that  brings  eternal  life 
to  the  returning  penitent.  These  two  books,  then,  contain  the  pith  and  marrow  of 
the  ancient  gospel  ;  Leviticus  and  Numbers  being  subsidiary,  and  Deuteronomy  a 
recapitulation.  From  the  death  of  Joseph,  the  last  event  in  Genesis,  to  the  rearing 
of  the  tabernacle,  is  an  interval  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  years,  as  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  table  : 


EVEKT. 

Age  of 
Father. 

Date  of 
Event. 

Interval. 

Date  of 
Death. 

Abraham  called,  at  the  age  of  175 

2078 

30 
60 
91 
39 
71 
59 
80 

2183 

Birth  of  Isaac, 
Birth  of  Jacob, 
Birth  of  Joseph, 

180 

147 
110 

2108  j 
2168  [ 
2259^ 

2288 
2315 
2369 

Jacob's  descent  into  Egypt, 

2298' 

Death  of  Joseph, 

2369' 

Birth  of  Moses, 

Exodus, 

From  call  of  Abraham  to  exodus, 

2428' 
2508' 

430 

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